


EXPERIMENTS

by sunsetstanley



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, M/M, Physical Abuse, Superpowers AU, basically they're all experimented on and abused, beverly is a badass bitch, bill makes force fields, bird boy stanley, but they break free, electricity power beverly, firebender eddie, idk more tags later, invisibility ben, plant power mike, richie has awful nicknames for everyone dw, waterbender richie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-07-15 13:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16064384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetstanley/pseuds/sunsetstanley
Summary: *Kind of on hold while I figure some shizz out :)*"We have to leave- now. They'll send in more men soon.""Wait what?" Richie asked, tears still embarrassingly falling down his face, "Leave?""Yes- come on- you're lucky I saved your ass.""What about the others?" Richie quizzed- knowing fair well there were at least two others, "There's some guy called Edward- and a guy who doesn't wear the full uniform."No-shirt-boy?" The girl asked.Richie didn't get why she was calling him that- but assumed it was the same person, "Sure, and uhh.. Where's your room?" Richie asked, if they knew which two rooms they had they'd be able to get to the others more easily."Why does that matter? We have to hurry up and leave dipshit.""Without Edward and no-shirt-boy?"The redhead looked at Richie without saying anything for a second, "Fuck it," she finally said and budged past Richie to crouch down next to the two men collapsed on the floor, "Here- they both have key cards- so we can break the others out- how many are there?"





	1. Boo-yah.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N- throughout this story if I mention Eddie 'smoking' he isn't literally smoking a cigarette, once he's warn out his body smokes up like a fire so, after he's been tested or uses all his energy he collapses and just smokes for a while.
> 
> Okay also, not all chapters are going to be this long and I'm sorry this one goes on for a while. I also didn't go in depth with everyone here, I want to save some character development for later (cough cough ben cough cough), but I hope this was enough. I'm really excited for this, I don't know. I've been teasing it for a couple days now on my tumblr so if you're from there then hello!
> 
> I'm also completely open to suggestions for this AU, please comment or message me/send me an ask on tumblr (tozier-verse) if you have any suggestions or certain characters you really want me to explore!

Mike sat on his bed, back leaning against the wall and feet hanging off the edge of the bed. The clock that read 17.37 was the only source of sound in the room; every second an annoyingly loud _click_ spreading through the room. Mike, however, wasn’t paying it too much attention- he was focusing on the leaves that now covered his ceiling and soaked his walls- moss, pear and shamrock green leaves sticking out of the thick vines tangled together above the boy’s head. Every so often there was a pink, white or yellow flower too, all hanging from the bundle of leaves and into the empty room. Mike twisted is wrist in circles slowly- causing the branch growing out of him to coil around itself; it was mesmerizing really- building and growing the vines in his room was addicting. He'd be stupid not to do it to be honest- even though the plants never lasted, anything was better than the cold empty grey room with too many suspicious stains coating the walls. It gave the room life- literally and figuratively- and made it feel like home, like Mike's real home. He'd give anything to go back there, to his home, but it was impossible now. He was stuck in this cold, empty room until he was taken to the laboratories- but even then he was just brought right back here after.

Suddenly a meal was being shoved through the small rectangular mailbox type hole at the bottom of Mike's door- instantly causing him to turn his head at the noise. With his attention taken away from the mess of plants growing through his room the vine broke off from his hand as it shriveled up and started to travel the branch like fire does on a string of dynamite- slowly killing off the bundle life. Mike watched it momentarily, despite his efforts on the branch- watching it all disappear could be captivating. After a few seconds of watching complete nothingness take over the branch, Mike shifted off his bed to look at the food- it was usually disgusting but still worth eating. Unless, it was like today. As Mike got closer to the bowel of muck, he could smell the disgusting scent of beef. Normally, Mike would eat whatever food he was given- grateful they'd feed him at all, because they'd sometimes forget- for days at a time. But he couldn't eat this, not beef. Or any animal- sometimes they'd shove their pathetic version of chicken and leak soup through the door, or a pulled pork sandwich. Mike refused to eat any of it- they weren't going to treat him like shit _and_ make him go against his beliefs like that. He'd rather starve to death than eat an innocent animal, and sometimes he wished he'd just starve to death anyways. Whatever was beyond this life would be better than this, and if there wasn't anything beyond this life- then that would be better too.

Mike decided to just push the meal to the side, they'd take it when they next collected him for testing- then they'd do something to Mike because of him not eating, but in reality it would be no worse than anything else they've done to him. While walking back to his bed Mike looked up to the ceiling once more, most of the plant had died now and the dirty ceiling was showing through, Mike had hours in this room though- hours and days and months and years, he could remake the whole thing ten times over. He sat himself back on his bed to start the process over again when he heard a distant scream, it was a girl's voice and sounded not too far way- probably in the same center/laboratory/wherever he was. Mike didn't know how many buildings were surrounding where they were, or if there was anything surrounding them. He didn't even know if they were in an actual building- but he did know there were other people. He'd seen them before, the red haired girl, the tiny boy on fire and the tall greasy boy with glasses. It was probably just one of them- nothing concerning him and nothing that ever would concern him.

* * *

They stormed into Beverly's room the same way they always did, the soft  _ping_ sound letting her know they were there before the loud crash of the door opening. Beverly could feel herself tense up as the two men marched in her room, so much so that she was convinced the electricity was already escaping her fingertips. When they first started dragging her off to be tested she'd managed to knock them out- Beverly never understood how or why she could do it, but if she thought the right things in the right way and directed it at the right person, then she could knock them out cold. It was satisfying while it lasted- causing person after person to fall to the floor without lifting a finger- but it didn't last long, if anything it just made it worse in the long run. Apparently, they were never aware of her more psychic abilities, and only thought she was able to produce electricity. So, when she started sending them all to sleep, they got quite excited once they woke up.

Now, as well as having far worse tests and examinations than she would if she never showed her psychic abilities, she also had to wear a tight metal band that was practically drilled to her head. It was level with her temples and completely covered her eyebrows, if she was able to look in a mirror she would definitely look ridiculous. Not that there was anyone to impress in this shit hole anyways. There were other people- but they weren't allowed to talk. She tried once, it was to a boy with darker blond hair- slightly curly if she remembered correctly? He was weird, not wearing a shirt like the other few people she saw, yet he was still being dragged around by the guards. She tried asking him who he was, how he got here, what he could do- but the blond didn't even look at her, and for trying to communicate she got dunked in the water tank while fully charged up- she still has scars on her wrists and hips from where she was connected to the machine as it happened. She didn't talk to anyone ever again though- even when she saw the taller boy with black hair, or was dragged past the slightly pudgy boy with a similar hair color to no-top-boy. It wasn't worth it, no one was worth being drowned in a tank of death.

The two men wasted no time in storming over to Beverly, and as much as she wanted to fight it, there wasn't anything she could do. She tries to knock them out- they cut off her mind. She tries to talk to someone- they torture her even more. She tries to break out their grasp- they beat her until she's bleeding and don't feed her for a week. There's nothing that can be done, so she lets them violently rip her from her bed and drag her out the room- to wherever they planned on fucking her up today. 

As she's not allowed shoes, for whatever reason- her feet dragged across the floor painfully. That was another bonus she got after trying to talk to no-top-boy, now under no circumstance could she walk- ever. They'd always carry her just too low, so her feet and sometimes ankles would painfully rub against the rough concrete flooring as they took her to their destination. Today it was lab three, which was right at the back of the sight- she assumed. On the way there they passed various staircases that had arrows and places on signs next to them, most signs read:

**⇦ ENTRANCE/EXIT**

**⇦ LABS 1 & 2**

**⇨ LABS 3 & 4**

**⇧ OFFICES**

**⇦ PATIENT ROOMS**

Referring to them as patients always amused Beverly slightly, she always thought patients were people you helped get better, or were nice to in general. If anything, this place was making Beverly and whoever else was locked up here a whole lot worse.

It wasn't too long before the men were dragging her into the lab, where Dr. Dennis was waiting like he usually was- he never retrieved Beverly from her room, or took her back- but was always waiting for her with a satisfied evil grin in wherever they were experimenting on her. She hated him with a passion, and if she could she'd happily strap him up to one of his machines to show him what it felt like- having all the energy ripped from within you in the most painful way possible- and then if you dare complain being plunged into a tank of what feels like it's burning every part of you and eating you alive- but really the tank is nothing but water, and doing no physical damage besides where the plugs are. They probably find it hilarious watching her scream and struggle in the tank- it's like some sick form of comedy for them.

"Hello Bevvy," The man said- with the audacity to smile at the redhead.

Beverly didn't reply- why put off whatever was about to happen? May as well get the torture over and done with.

"So, we're just going to do a quick test," he said it kindly- but the voice was filled with evil. Beverly wasn't an idiot.

Dr. Dennis walked over to a concrete table he had set out, it had clamps down the sides, most likely to strap Beverly down at various points. He tapped the table lightly before saying, "Bring her over here- don't worry Bevvy, it'll only be quick," again with a kindness to nice to be genuine, and completely contradicting the evil look on the man's face. She had no choice whether or not she was going to the table, before she could even think to make her own way over there, the two sets of hands on her forearms were dragging her over, just as painfully as when they were dragging her from her room.

There was no time wasted on then hooking Beverly up on the table/machine- she's been on it a few times, but none of which were recent. They, again, didn't let her climb on and position herself, instead she was practically thrown onto the cold concrete slab and her head was forcefully pushed back. The two assistants were quick to take her headgear off, scared of what she might do without it for too long, and wasted no time pushing the button that caused two concrete blocks to slide across the table, relatively slowly, and tighten on Beverly's head- squeezing it so tight it hurt, but it would Keep Beverly still and inflict the pain necessary to stop her from affecting the three men. Next was a clamp around each wrist, one of the men turned both her hands so the palms were facing up before stabbing something into each wrist, Beverly had no clue what they were or what they did- but it was quickly followed by the clamps tightening around where they stabbed the things into her. After that the same process happened to both her waist and ankles, meaning she was completely locked in and they could extract her energy from her temples, wrists, body and ankles. Smaller needles that were connected to the ends of wires that lead to the machine under the concrete slab were also painfully stabbed into each fingertip, but it was nothing compared to what Beverly knew was coming.

Dr. Dennis wasn't lying when he said it was quick, however, he didn't specify that the insanely quick shocks would go on for two hours. Every time Beverly felt the wires and whatever was stabbed into her suck the electricity out of her she screamed- she knew her cries of pain only encouraged them, but she couldn't help it. It was so much worse than any of the other times- somehow. It's probably what getting electrocuted felt like for any other person- but combined with having your organs and guts ripped out of you at the same time- it felt like death- rapid fires of death in two minute intervals every five minutes. It was actual torture, and nothing could save Beverly. Or no-shirt-boy, or black-haired-boy, or any other boy or girl living in this place. Nothing could be done to stop the evils that were happening here.

Another shock ripped through Beverly's body as her back arched as much as it could considering she was practically chained to the table. Her heart was beating so fast now, and her breathing was a mess- she was so close to tears- scarily close, but she knew better than to cry. Not only would it just motivate these evil fucks to carry on more- to see just how far they could push Beverly- but water and electricity doesn't exactly fit. Each tear would feel like a knife being dragged down Beverly's face- only causing more tears. So, Beverly couldn't cry- she wouldn't.

After what felt like years, they seemed to be finished- as Beverly heard the machine shut off slowly her body went completely numb, she was panting heavily and felt completely and utterly useless- she was a working mind in a dead body. The men were talking for a little while, with Beverly still chained to the table- her mind however, felt like TV static- so she couldn't hear a single word they were saying, although that was probably for the best. Eventually her sense of hearing came back though, and her mind cleared up slightly- the men were still talking, and Beverly still hurt- but soon she would be thrown back in her room and could work up her energy again.

 Unless..?

Before Beverly could finish the thought, the two men who dragged her here in the first place started pulling the needles from her fingers, then taking the clamps off her body. As they did it Beverly's mind cleared significantly and she realized- they were starting at her ankles and working their way up- if she was quick enough she could run- or she couldn't. But it was worth a shot, right? She was completely out of energy, she wouldn't be able to control her electricity for a while yet and her whole body and mind was numb- but she could  _try._ Because she didn't deserve it- neither did no-shirt-boy, or short-fire-boy, or black-hair-boy- she needed to do this. It was now or never. As one of the men started to loosen the blocks clamping her head in place a wave of adrenaline washed over Beverly- she could defeat the world. She  _would_ defeat the world- and no motherfucker in here was going to stop her.

Just as the clamp was loose enough the redhead took her chances and threw herself to the side, making it so the large table/counter was between her and the trio of men- it took a second to compose herself- but the sudden rush of adrenaline was making up for all the lost electricity. She shot up almost as soon as she hit the floor and saw one of the guards frantically trying to get her head piece- all three of them were aware what she was capable of. She could destroy them- everything they were.Beverly hadn't used her more psychic abilities in a while, considering she's been wearing that bullshit headband for years now, but it always came easy to her- she just has to think the right thing in the right way and  _boom,_ Dr. Dennis' two guards fell to the floor- completely unconscious. Next was the Big D himself, but Beverly was too high on the rush of being free to feel scared- she was the queen and this was her motherfucking kingdom. She lowered her head slightly, maintaining eye contact with Dr. Dennis, surprised he wasn't rushing for backup or trying to kill Beverly himself- but she wasn't complaining. It took longer to get into his mind- and he was just getting over the initial shock of her bold move; close to punching the bright red button reading  **EMERGENCY** \- but just in time Beverly was able to cock her head slightly to the left- sending the middle aged man crashing to the floor with the other two.

_Boo-yah._

The girl stood panting for a few seconds- the sudden adrenaline catching up with her, still being partially numb and using her pheromones for the first time in years made her already low amount of energy feel even worse- but she had to finish this now. There was no other way. She was quick to rush out the room, fully aware that there would be more guards and scientists and fucked up assholes after her any second- no, Dr. Dennis hadn't managed to ever announce an emergency- but he didn't really need to with the amount of CCTV cameras in this place, they were probably already after her- meaning Beverly had to get out of this place, and quick.

She ran to the door of the room and crashed through into the hallway- it was empty but wouldn't be for much longer- she had to hurry.

* * *

He was absolutely terrified of the showers- which was funny in a sick and twisted way. Water was meant to be his strength- he was a fucking waterbender after all, but no. He had to be dragged to the showers by two or three grown men and then forcefully shoved under the tap as they washed him. It was humiliating as well as being pathetic, having three people you don't even know- yet knew everything about you- strip you down to your most vulnerable state and then just throw you into your biggest fear- he definitely looked weak. But after what they did to him he was bound to, right?

 

-

_"So, Richard. We believe you might be able to breath underwater- you could be more powerful than we ever imagined."_

_"What? No- I- I don't think I can-"_

_"Don't worry, we're just testing it. You can leave at any point, you understand? You do trust us here, don't you?_

_"I- I... I guess..."_

_"Great," the man sitting across from Richie smiled, it seemed genuine enough- but Richie didn't fully trust it, how could he?_

_Dr. Dennis left he room just after the conversation ended, leaving Richie sat in his seat across from where the middle-aged man was sitting with the two men that dragged him here sitting just behind him. Normally during the tests it was fine, they'd either get a slightly smaller tub of water and have Richie make shapes and patterns with the liquid, or he'd be taken to the yard where the pool was and have to do bigger and more complicated stunts- riding the water like he was surfing or making the water lift him high in the air; it was fun almost, the tests and experiments. Richie could finally feel pride in whatever allowed him to defeat the laws of physics, someone was finally impressed with him and liked him for it. But this- this was different. Richie knew for a fact he wouldn't be able to breath underwater, he never tried it- but it's not just something you test. If he could it probably would've happened by accident at least once by now surely?_

_Dr. Dennis returned after a few minutes, and he was holding something that Richie couldn't quite make out- it would be fine though, they never hurt Richie here- they rescued him really, "So, Richard," the man started as he sat opposite Richie once again, "I'm going to need you to hold your hands out- palms facing up- this won't hurt, don't worry- we just need to disable your ability to move the water."_

_Richie listened, and placed his hands out like he was asked to. As Dr. Dennis got the things set up he could see what they were more clearly- it looked like two metal blocks that opened up- as there were latches on the sides- there was also a long chain coming out of each one with a large clip of sorts attached the end of the chains. Dr. Dennis wasted no time in undoing the latches and opening the metal blocks, revealing that Richie had, in fact, been correct. In the middle on each half was a hand shaped dent- completely disallowing Richie any control of his power. He was scared, obviously- but he was safe here. Dr. Dennis promised they'd never let him get hurt- and he wouldn't lie to Richie, he was basically his dad at this point._

_As the boxes closed around his hands, Richie realized how tight the fit was- the constant squeeze around his wrists was slightly painful and demanded his to flex his hands slightly, but the tightness of the container didn't allow any movement. As soon as Richie's hands were trapped and he was basically powerless, Dr. Dennis ordered the two men sat behind Richie to 'take him to the tank'. The sudden aggressiveness caught Richie off guard slightly, but he had no time to really think about it as he was instantly being dragged off. Not even by the forearms or shoulders like usual- which still allowed him to walk alongside whichever men were taking him to where he was needed. They took full advantage of the chains now attached to the lanky boy and opted to instead drag him through the building by them- causing Richie's whole body to painfully drag across the hard and cold floor, at the start he was able to remain on his feet, but it wasn't long before he tripped up, crashing to the floor._

_It confused Richie to be honest, the sudden forcefulness and more violent manner of dragging him was different. But, again, he didn't have long to think it over as he was in whatever room the experiments were happening in today soon enough. One of the men roughly pulled Richie back to his feet, revealing the 'tank' Dr. Dennis was referring to, it was a glass cylinder that was completely empty, to Richie's surprise. There was a ladder built into one side and two metal rings attached to the base, presumably for the chains to be latched to. The look of it was slightly frightening, and the room being filled with it's usual dim light didn't exactly help._

_"Don't worry Richard," Dr. Dennis stated as if he was reading Richie's mind," If we are correct you will be perfectly fine in there, and we don't get things wrong."_

_Richie was going to reply, but as he tried to say something the two assistants who dragged him here in the fist place were moving him towards the ladder, as Richie got closer he noticed there was also a small platform behind the tank, with a few stairs leading up to it. It was the perfect height to allow one of the men to stand on and guide Richie into the tank, while the other assistant stood at the bottom. Richie climbed into the glass cylinder with ease, he wasn't too scared- if it got too much they'd let him out, he was in safe hands. These people valued him and his abilities; they wanted him safe._

_Once in the tank, the man waiting at the base of it pressed a button of some sorts that allowed the bottom to open up slightly, just enough for him to reach in and chain Richie to the base. Then, the lid was shut and Dr. Dennis pressed a second button, as soon as it was pushed Richie felt the cold water around his toes and feet._

_The boy-sized tank filled relatively quickly- and as soon as the water seeped over Richie's mouth and nose he knew he was in trouble. He stretched his neck up as far as it would go, but that wasn't much use either- seconds after his face started to submerge in the water his whole head was under. At first it was bearable, Richie could hold his breath for a little while- like most people- but holding his breath quickly turned into needing to breath. The boy tried shaking his hands or kicking his legs slightly- to tell Dr. Dennis and the two others that he was done; he couldn't breath. But, they either didn't notice or for some reason didn't realize what Richie was trying to say- as he remained in the tank with no signs of being let out. His kicking and flailing of limbs only became more desperate as his chest started burning, demanding a breath but still, no one was paying attention._

_He had no idea how long he had been submerged when he started to hear the loud bangs of thunder- he couldn't hear much from where he was, but the huge **BOOM, BOOM, BOOM** from outside would be hard to miss. He carried on struggling and trying to move his whole body- doing anything to break out the chains, the cage, anything. His whole body was on fire now and he knew he wouldn't last much longer in the tank of water- whatever that meant._

_Suddenly the tank was being opened, Richie didn't notice at first until he was able to pull his arms up more- signalling he had been unattached from the tank, and he felt his now completely limp body be pulled from the tank. He couldn't see at first, and he could hardly breath. He was stuck putting all his weight on whoever was dragging him back down to ground level. After a few seconds he became a coughing fit, and by the time the man carrying him dropped him to the floor he was able to open his eyes slightly, and his hearing he didn't realize he had lost came back. There were now two more men in the room, Richie didn't recognize them as any of the few that helped work with him- so he didn't know why they were there-_

_"We were trying to!" Richie heard one of them shout at Dr. Dennis, "But the rain started burning him, he was crying that he couldn't do anything until it was gone!"_

_"Where did the rain come from anyway? I thought it was meant to be sunny today- and the water hurts him?"_

_"He's a living fire- we should've picked up on it sooner. Wait... Can you hear the thunder anymore?"_

_"No- has it already stopped? And the kid showers fine, how was the rain hurting him?"_

_"We don't know Sir- do you want us to... Test it more?"_

_"That would be good yes, we need to be aware of their weaknesses- speaking of which, how are you feeling Richard?"_

_Richie had calmed down slightly, but was still a panting, shaking mess on the floor and in no way able to reply- but that apparently wasn't good enough for the guards/assistants- as one of them sent a force kick into his side. Almost as soon as the foot made contact with Richie's side Richie felt himself tense up and become out of breath once more- and as if on queue another roar of thunder was heard outside. Dr. Dennis seemed to notice it too, as at the sound of it his head turned to look out the small window on the far left wall, "Kick him again," he ordered with no hesitation- Richie was confused, what would kicking him do?_

_"Why?" The man asked, looking down at the still collapsed Richie before looking back at Dr. Dennis._

_"I think we might be onto something here, just kick him- make sure it's decently hard."_

_The man obviously listened to the last instruction- as another hard jab went through Richie's side, and again a huge **BOOM** could be heard just outside. Richie didn't understand the connection really, it must've been a coincidence- and if it wasn't what were they even talking about? Kicking Richie would cause thunder outside? No- that didn't make any sense-_

_"Put him back in the tank," The doctor ordered, "And if it starts raining again make sure Edward is outside- we need to figure this out."_

_Thankfully Richie had managed to catch his breath slightly since being pulled out the tank, "What? No! I can't breath in there- that was the experiment!" He desperately cried._

_"Apparently not anymore," Dr. Dennis coldly responded, not even looking at Richie- instead just ushering the two men who were testing whoever Edward was out of the room._

_"No! It hurt, please," Richie begged- but it was no use. He was thrown back into the tank and the process was repeated again, and again, and again. And once he was finally out he heard one of the men mention how good of a day it was, "We made improvements on our studies on Richard and Edward- this is real progress."_

-

 

Richie was being dragged out of his room and to the showers when he saw the girl- he'd seen her around this place a few times, but never when he was in this state. He was screaming and crying, trying to get away from whoever was firmly holding him slightly off the ground by his forearms as he made eye contact with her- it was weird, she wasn't being dragged around by the guards- she was just standing there, out of breath, looking between Richie and whatever was in front of her. Then, out of nowhere she was running towards him as the two guards that were holding Richie suddenly crashed to floor like they'd been knocked out. As they were holding Richie up, he also fell to the ground, but was able to get up relatively quickly, and by the time her was up the redhead was right in front of him, "We have to leave- now. They'll send in more men soon."

"Wait what?" Richie asked, tears still embarrassingly falling down his face, "Leave?"

"Yes- come on- you're lucky I saved your ass."

"What about the others?" Richie quizzed- knowing fair well there were at least two others, "There's some guy called Edward- and a guy who doesn't wear the full uniform.

"No-shirt-boy?" The girl asked.

Richie didn't get why she was calling him that- but assumed it was the same person, "Sure, and uhh.. Where's your room?" Richie asked, if they knew which two rooms they had they'd be able to get to the others more easily.

"Why does that matter? We have to hurry up and leave dipshit."

"Without Edward and no-shirt-boy?"

The redhead looked at Richie without saying anything for a second, "Fuck it," she finally said and budged past Richie to crouch down next to the two men collapsed on the floor, "Here- they both have key cards- so we can break the others out- how many are there?"

"Not sure," Richie replied, "I know Eds and no-shirt-boy."

"I've seen no-shirt-boy, slightly-pudgy-but-cute-boy, short-fire-boy, and you."

"I'm Richie, and short-fire-boy is Edward," Richie replied.

"I'm Beverly- or Bev. How do you know his name?"

"Edward? Oh, the fuckers use me to hurt him... And me," Richie replied before pausing for a second, "It doesn't matter- we have to hurry up."

Beverly nodded at Richie and the two of them rushed off- somehow more guards still hadn't been sent yet- only meaning they'd be there soon. It turned out Beverly had the room next to Richie, so staying in that hall was useless. The duo instead ran across the main hall and down the corridor opposite the one holding their rooms- there were two doors, similar to their corridor, and they just ran to the first one.

* * *

Bill was sat in his room doing nothing in particular, just laying on his bed and looking at the ceiling zoned out, like he normally was. He used to throw his bed covers around- it was fun for a little while; sitting on his floor and just looking around his room caused the blankets to just follow his mind- like they were connected to an invisible leash. It got boring after a while though, and he very rarely had the energy or power to do it anymore- each test pushing him further and further, taking more and more of his energy away from him.

His clock read 19.51 when he heard the door unlock, they were nine minutes early today, not that it would make any difference. It would still be the same torturous activities. When Bill was younger they weren't as bad, the people would just throw random shit at him- like tennis balls or a shoe- and Bill would easily deflect them. Then they discovered he could also move still objects- it again started simple, making tennis balls roll across the table, or making a bed completely with his mind. Now, however, they would have him move trains or try to pull buildings to the ground- Bill always tried- he really did, he knew they just needed him to try- but he couldn't always do it, his head would start to sting and burn or his whole body would just curl into itself without warning. Once it got so bad he was basically paralyzed for a week, he felt bad about it too. Dr. Dennis told him how disappointing he was, how all of the other experiments had to be put on hold because of Bill's fuck up. But he also couldn't physically push any harder- he was useless really.

He turned his head to look at the door as it opened, and was surprised to, in fact, not see two guards ready to drag him off to some test- but instead a girl and a boy, about his age and in the same uniform as him, standing in his doorway panting heavily. He sat up at the sight of them, and gave them a look of confusion- but before he could say or as anything the boy was already speaking, "We're breaking out- you coming with?"

What was Bill meant to answer? How were these two just running around- how would they get out? Who were they? Was this just another test?

"What?" Was all Bill managed to get out.

"I'm Beverly," the girl introduced, "This is Richie- we're breaking out of this shit hole, are you coming with? There's at least three more people after you to save, so, if you're coming hurry up."

Bill couldn't answer for a second, but he knew who they were talking about, there was a boy with darker skin in the hall behind him, and a smaller boy who always seemed to be steaming- but he didn't know the third, "How are we meant to get out? And why?"

"How, we don't know," the boy answered- he was wearing glasses and fiddling with them as he spoke, "Why- because this place is a hell hole."

"I'll try to help I guess," Bill answered more like a question, still unsure on what the plan was, "Who are we getting next?"

"Whoever's room we run into next- who's next to you?" Beverly asked.

As far as Bill knew, the room next to him was empty- he'd never seen anyone leave or enter it, "I don't think anyone."

"Okay- well... We'll go check- you look out yeah? We don't know how long we have until they send backup." Beverly replied once more, before her and Richie were running to the next room.

Bill stood up from his bed and instantly felt his head sting with pain, he pushed his hands on his temples slightly before forcing himself to focus- they were leaving. He was leaving... Hopefully. Once at his door way he turned to look right, Beverly and Richie were in the process of opening the door- then looking left he was suddenly aware of the sound coming from the main hall- this wasn't good- at all. Without even thinking he jumped to the middle of the smaller hall- he was involved in this now, may as well join in the action. It wasn't anymore than a few seconds before four guards could be seen at the end of the short hall- Bill recognized one or two of them as ones who'd drag him to wherever Dr. Dennis wanted him. They were all equipped with guns, not the real ones- they'd been used on Bill before. They were loaded with bullets that when hit someone just knocked them out for a few days. Bill had learnt pretty well how to fight them, which made it weird that they were the main weapon of choice. They also all had tasers clipped to their belts, but still, the guns were nothing. As soon as the men held the guns up and started to position them, aiming at the three teens Bill was getting ready- it was just like the tests; he could do this- he would do this- even if his desire to escape only started a few minutes prior, he now wanted it more than ever.

All it took was one swift swing of his arm to send the bullets flying to the left rather than toward him and his newly found friends- the second lot was harder, Bill was already low on energy, but he still managed. By the third he was used to it and just as he was about to send the bullets flying off course for the fourth time he was distracted by Beverly screaming, "THE ROOMS EMPTY RUN!" He didn't know how they were meant to run, but Beverly and Richie were now just behind him and the guards were aiming for their fourth shot. Just as they were about to do it Bill grabbed the redhead and tall boy, pulling them backwards into him, he let out a scream as a huge force left his body- he'd ever been able to do it before- or if he had it's been a much smaller scale, yet here he was; clutching two other people with a fully working force field positioned between them and the shooters. Once back to his senses Bill pushed both his arms forward- making the wall of complete force and energy go with the motion and crash into the men- the bullets that were still caught in it would have knocked them out easily, but the bullets mixed with the wall itself did a lot more damage.   
  
"RUN!" Bill shouted as he three of them took off down the hall- fully knowing there would be far more guards than that sooner rather than later.

They went down the next closest hall- it, similar to Bill's, had two doors in it, "Here," Beverly said as she chucked Bill the key card, "You two each take a room- I'll stand lookout."   
  
"You take the closest one- I'll go down there," Richie suggested- already running to the next door. Bill could only nod in response, completely warn out from the efforts he used defending them.   
  
Bill jogged to the door, the key card was pretty easy to use- he just had to swipe it through the lock and then type in the code on the base of it- he probably would've been quicker if he didn't keep frantically looking to his left, checking that Beverly was alright and there wasn't anyone there to kill them yet, but eventually he got in and the door opened. Upon opening the door, he saw a boy about his age. He wasn't wearing a shirt and was chained to the wall- his arms raised just above his head and back pressed against the wall. He looked awful, hair greasy and hanging over his forehead and his eyes had dark bags under them. As soon as Bill opened the door the boy was glaring at him- his eyes filled with so much hatred and anger- yet so much desperation at the same time.

* * *

Stanley would rather die than live in whatever this place was- he didn't know what else was out there, or even if there was anything out there, but he hated it here. In theory there had to be more- the whole world couldn't just be this building, the yard and the few people in here, but at the same time Stanley had never been allowed to go anywhere else. He didn't know about the other people, they might be allowed out and able to talk to each other, it would make sense. All the adults here decided Stanley was useless once they realized he didn't actually have any decent powers; all he could do was grow wings and run/fly kind of fast, he wasn't extra strong or able to tear buildings to the ground. He just flew around and looked pretty- and apparently that's useless to the people here, so they decided the best thing to do was chain him to his wall so his wings couldn't come out, and let him in the yard once a week for about ten minutes for exercise, and if he was really lucky they might let him shower.

Stanley never knew much about the other people living here, he'd seen a few of them before- there was a very angry looking girl, a boy with flowers growing out his hands and up his arms, and the tiny screeching boy who didn't seem to know what being quiet was. Stanley hated all of them- they could all do something- they didn't just fly around a bit, he never heard the end of it from Dr. Dennis- they have all these people with powers but Stanley was just  _useless-_ he couldn't wield fire or shoot electricity bolts. Hell, once Dr. Dennis actually shouted at him, _"We have people here who can control the god damn weather! You must do something, anything!?"_ They'd been so adamant he could do something they just put him through tests designed for everyone- the amount of times he was drowned or hooked up to some machine that just hurt him was uncountable. Every day was a new question; maybe he had superhuman strength? Maybe he could move objects with his mind? Maybe he could secretly blast water out his hands? Nope, he could just fly a bit quick. Which was just useless, obviously.

He was surprised, to say the least, when he heard his door start to open. He'd only been let out two days ago, there was no reason for them to be back so soon- unless they had a new revelation on his non-existent powers, or were finally just going to have him killed. Anything would be better than this. Stanley, however, was only more surprised at the sight of a scrawny boy at his door- who was very out of breath and wearing a face of shock at the look of Stanley, he was very aware of how awful he must look, sitting there without a shirt on, chained to the wall. His hair was also unbelievably greasy from the guards just forgetting that he should probably shower, and he rarely slept. So, in short, he was a mess.

"H-Hey, w-we... W-We're breaking out- are y-you okay? S-Sorry, d-do y-you want t-to c-come?"

The boy was either very nervous or just had a stutter- Stanley couldn't tell yet. Although, he also couldn't tell if this runaway escape plan was real or another sick test. Could he really trust anything at this point?

"Why would you want to leave?" He asked, probably a bit too harshly.

"W-What? Y-You like it h-here? Y-You're l-literally..." The skinny boy didn't finish his sentence, still just looking at Stanley in his embarrassingly pathetic situation.

"Chained to the wall?" Stanley finished.

"Y-Yeah- h-here, I might b-be able t-to help... I'm B-Bill by the w-way," Bill walked close to Stan and examined the chains around his wrists slightly, Stanley was still nervous to a certain extent, and didn't fully trust Bill- but he couldn't exactly stop him.

"Stanley," he introduced to Bill, who no longer seemed to be paying attention, instead he was just intensely staring at one of Stanley's wrists and the metal looped tightly around it, "What are you doing?" Stanley asked, still extremely confused on what was happening. Bill didn't answer, instead just remained staring at Stanley's wrists, then suddenly the metal started shaking slightly- as it shook Bill only became more concentrated, and after a few more seconds Stanley's wrist was free. Bill clambered over Stanley to start work on his next wrist as Stanley examined his now free arm; the wrist was extremely red and raw- basically just a large cracked, bleeding and bruised blister circling around his arms a few times. Now that he could see how bad it was it also seemed to hurt a lot more- and that combined with the nerves of not knowing who this Bill was or what thy were doing didn't make him feel good, which only meant one thing. 

His second wrist was free not long after, and at the sudden freedom Stanley couldn't help but leap to the side, and as he did so his wings came flourishing out of him- they were a blend of blues and greens, and the undersides were a creamy off white. They'd come out when he was nervous or needed them mostly, but he could also force them out whenever. This however, was definitely due to a mix of nerves and not having them out in so long.

"Holy motherfucker," Bill breathed out, looking at the wings now hunched over Stanley as if they were a shield.

"What?" Stan quizzed, wings still firmly between him and the other boy.

"Y-You're w-wings, they're-"

Bill was cut off by a scream from outside the room, "BILL! HURRY!" It was a girl's voice, probably the redhead he'd seen around sometimes, and it didn't sound good. The two boys made their way to the door- there were three other people out there; the girl with red hair, a taller boy with black curls and a blond slightly chubby boy- they all looked about Stanley's age, and so did Bill. There were also a fair amount of armed men outside, not a ton; probably about five to ten- but they were still there, and if something didn't happen fast Stanley would be chained against his wall far sooner than he would like.

Without even thinking Stanley grabbed Bill's forearm before somehow managing to sweep the other three towards him with his spare arm- with one forceful flap of his wings the five of them were shooting past the men at an unimaginable speed, thankfully there was a door separating the next section of the building, meaning Stan was able to collapse to the floor, dragging everyone down with him after pushing the button that shut the doors. He hadn't moved so quickly in what felt like years, and only used his wings once a week at most, so the sudden use of them was shocking to his system.

He was caught out of his shock relatively quickly though by the taller boy, "Damn, no-shirt-boy is fast."

"Excuse me?" Stanley spat, looking at the glasses wearing boy.

"Beverly here has been referring to you as no-shirt-boy, y'know- since your not wearing a shirt."

"Oh- whatever. What are you all doing?"

"Breaking free, and it looks like you're coming with us. Richie, by the way," Richie held out his hand, which Stanley chose to ignore and introduced himself to the group. Beverly introduced herself to him and so did the other boy, who was apparently called Ben. Bill then also introduced himself to Ben, which was weird, as Stanley was under the impression they all knew each other- but whatever. That wasn't important right now.

* * *

"There's still two more of us," Ben said as he looked around the group. He didn't recognized everyone he was sat with- and knew for a fact there were still two more rooms, hopefully near where they were. If he remembered correctly it was the fire guy and the plant one who lived in them- but he could be mixing up people's powers.

He didn't know which one Richie was, when the tall boy burst through his door he thought he was one of the guards for a second- he just didn't seem very 'powerful'- his face was stained from tears and he worse coke bottle glasses. Then again, looking at Ben you wouldn't think he was very powerful- he wasn't really, but he had powers. If he focused hard enough he could read minds, which was fun but, after a little while he was given a metal strip wrapped around his head to prevent it unless it was necessary, he could also talk to people through their inner thoughts which sounded like it could be really fun, Ben would probably feel bad doing it though- it'd make people feel insane. Ben was always grateful that he could only read people's thoughts on command, constantly hearing peoples inner thoughts would probably get annoying, and it would just feel weird. He could also turn invisible, but it was a pretty useless power when your clothing didn't also disappear. Ben was just stuck with powers, but not the cool superhero type, just the boring less exciting ones.

He knew that the others were powerful, hell- Stanley just grew a pair of wings and flew them away so quickly it was unbelievable, and when him and Richie initially got out of his room Beverly was full on electrocuting a dude. They could all make a pretty badass team, as long as they managed to break out of here. 

"Where will their rooms be?" Beverly asked, looking around the group for a door or hall leading anywhere.

"L-Let's just k-keep m-moving- w-who knows h-how m-many guards th-they're sending. W-We have t-to be qu-quick."

The group got up and started walking down the hall, either way they'd make it to the entrance- they just needed to find the fire guy and the plant guy, "There!" Ben shouted as another corridor came to sight. The group quickly turned down the hall- very aware that at any second an uncountable number of armed guards could burst through any door, but also aware that there were still two more people that needed saving.

"Here, Richie- you go to the furthest door and I'll go to the closest one?" Bill suggested as the two of them were already holding the key cards, "You three make sure we don't die?"

"Got it captain," Beverly jokingly replied, "No shirt take that side, Ben over there and I'll watch here," Beverly suggested and Ben just listened, her and Bill obviously had some form of plan.

* * *

_"Edward, I told you- you have to do this, no questions about it."_

_"It... It hurts," was all Eddie could get out. He hated these bullshit experiments he was forced into- he never understood the point of them, all they did was hurt him. Experiments were meant to investigate something, discover something. Not just torture someone. Every day they got worse- they used to just make Eddie light small fires- like he'd have a small pile of sticks in the yard that he had to light, or a small bush. Now, however, they expect him to do so, so much- too much, really._

_"I understand it hurts- but we need you to do this. It won't hurt for much longer. An you don't want us to get the hose do you?"_

_Eddie winced at the mention of the hose, when he was burnt out like he currently was and unable to do much more they would spray him with the hose. The force of the water alone was enough to hurt, but if Eddie was burnt out and smoking the water felt like lava burning over his skin- it felt like he was melting away in the slowest and most painful way imaginable._

_"I... I can't move."_

_"Edward- I'm going to count to three. I expect you to do as you're asked, how am I meant to trust you if you can't even light a small fire?"_

_"But-"_

_"One."_

_Eddie couldn't move, even if he tried it was useless, his whole body was numb to the point he could hardly move his hand to push his body off the ground._

_"Two."_

_The smoke coming out of him was thickening now, it was mainly coming from his hands as they're what he uses to set the fires, but his whole body was surrounded by it. It was getting so bad he could hardly see at this point, or he could see- but only the thick grey cloud surrounding him._

_"Three... It's disappointing Edward, that you find it so difficult to follow very simple instructions. We have no choice but to get the hose if you can't get up."_

_"Please... No," Eddie whimpered, he felt incredibly weak as well as insanely disappointing. He hated disappointing Dr. Dennis, he knew that they only meant the best for him here, the experiments were there to help- even if Eddie didn't understand how._

_"Guys, on my count, okay? Three... Two... One, and... Go!"_

_The pain engulfing Eddie's body was too much as he let out a scream filled with pain, his whole body curled in on himself as hot tears poured out his eyes, which also burnt his cheeks unbearably, "Please! Pl-Please, stop... I'm- I'm sorry," Eddie pleaded, but the hose only got more forceful. It felt like a thousand bullets being fired into his skin- over and over again, leaving him completely weak and helpless on the floor._

_"You know I hate hurting you Edward, but you must learn--- turn it up a few notches, he will never learn if we're nice."_

_"N-No! AHHH!" Eddie cried as the water became colder and far more forceful, "Please! I under- AHH! I- I understand!"_

_"Take him back to his room. He's useless now."_

_-_

 

Eddie was still exhausted from earlier on in the day- completely collapsed on his bed, probably unable to move much at all. He hated it here so much, nothing good ever happened to him yet he knew they were trying to help- Dr. Dennis didn't actually like hurting him right? As he said, Eddie just needed to learn. He needed to learn to be stronger and last longer- he needed to not be weak. _  
_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his door unlocking- which couldn't mean anything good; they were back again, Dr. Dennis' men- the awful men who sprayed him with the hose and kicked him to the floor when he couldn't do anything, the ones who roughly dragged him from room to room even though he was perfectly capable of walking. He hated them, they were awful people and he didn't understand why Dr. Dennis would want to work with them if they hurt Eddie, he was trying to help and learn about Eddie's powers- not slowly kill him.

"Hey?" The voice at the door was softer than usual, and there wasn't instantly a pair of hands on Eddie's shoulders ripping him to the floor and out the room, "We're leaving- breaking free and shit. You coming?"

Eddie just about worked up enough energy to roll over- now facing the door he saw a tall lanky boy who was wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses, he was also in the same uniform as Eddie- so he wasn't a guard, "Wh-What?" Eddie asked- still not with enough energy to do much of anything.

"We're getting out of this hell hole, C'mon Eds- it'll be fine."

"Eds? My names Edward...Or Eddie," Eddie coughed as he spoke, he shouldn't be communicating at all in this state, "How do you know that anyway?"

"Heard Dr. D mention you, you're the firecracker, right?"

"F-Firecracker?" Eddie quizzed, the boy was now in the room more, making his way over to Eddie who was still laying down.

"The fire guy, come on- you've got to come- we're all going."

"A-All? And I can't... I can't move," Eddie felt himself smoke more as he said it, he was surprised the boy hadn't noticed the smoke coming out of him yet.

"What? Why- I'm Richie by the way."

"I-I'm burnt out, Dr. Dennis... He-"

Richie cut him off completely, which was slightly annoying, "Can you not walk then? We're running out of time here, hot-stuff."

"Don't call me that," Eddie answered as he tried to lift his body slightly, he succeeded slightly before falling back down with a wince of pain.

"Okay- right..." Richie looked between the door and Eddie a few times before saying, "I'm going to carry you, okay?"

"No! No! Please- I hate that, no- it hurts!"

"What? I won't hurt you, I promise."

"When the men drag me it hurts," Eddie replied- he wasn't being dragged around again, especially in this state. It would hurt far too much, and he didn't even know if he wanted to leave.

"I'm not like those awful people okay, we're breaking free from them," He smiled at Eddie, it seemed genuine but how was Eddie meant to trust it? He didn't know what Richie could do to him, "Bridal or over shoulder?" The boy asked Eddie.

"Wh-What?"

"Bridal it is!" Richie cheered as he put one of his arms under Eddie's knees and another behind his back before swiftly picking him up and running out the room, at the end of the hall there were five others in a similar uniform, they were crouched together as one of the boys had his arms held in front of them- causing the bullets that were being fired at them to bounce back, "RICHIE!" the one girl there shouted, "LET'S GO BITCHES!"

Richie ran to the group, still with Eddie in his arms. Eddie had no idea what was going on, but clung to Richie's shirt nonetheless, he was involved in this uprising of sorts now- so he may as well roll with it. They were all running to what Eddie could only assume to be the exit, him and Richie were just behind the girl and a boy with huge, beautiful blue wings. There was another guy who was running pretty level with Richie, and then just behind them was a blond boy and the one with the force field type thing- it was getting close to breaking though, Eddie could tell. A few bullets had started to break through- they all thankfully fell just after passing through the barrier- so at least the force was still slowing them down.

They were so close now, Eddie assumed, there was a huge door that looked like it lead to another room, but there was a sign above it it reading ' **EXIT** ' so it wouldn't be much longer now. The winged boy's hand was basically on the door when there was suddenly a bullet flying past them, thankfully it didn't hit anyone- but as Eddie whipped his head around he saw that the force field was gone and there were at least ten of the men standing there with guns aimed at the group of seven. This wasn't going to end well, Eddie could tell. How could it? Seven against who knows how many weapon wielding six foot men. They were actually going to die-

Suddenly the lights were all shutting off- one by one down the hall with a slight _click_ as each one switched off. Eddie had no clue what was happening but didn't have much time to think before Beverly was screaming, "RUN YOU IDIOTS!"

As they were running out the now pitch black building Eddie could here the guns going off, and he was terrified that he would get shot- or Richie would get shot. If he was shot Richie could just carry him out and then they'd be able to deal with it later, they weren't even deadly bullets- but if Richie was shot that would leave both of them trapped in there- and the punishment for joining a riot would almost definitely be extreme. They'd throw Eddie in the pool again, after making him burn out- hold him in there like they used to, causing his skin to blister and peel. That couldn't happen- they had to get out.

* * *

 

Mike was completely out of breath when they managed to break through the doors and outside- and he was still full of adrenaline and shock, confused on what the fuck was going on. Once outside the building they obviously weren't free yet, there was a huge gate and fence wrapping around the whole place- and they definitely didn't have long now- any second tons of armed men would be crashing through the doors, and they couldn't rely on Beverly to throw them off by shutting the lights off again... Unless, "Beverly!" Mike shouted between gasps for breath, she was stood between Bill and who Mike thinks is Ben? Bird Boy was just in front of them, looking around for something and then the other two were stood just next to him, "If the gate is electric, could you open it?" Mike asked as he pointed towards the gate.

"I don't know," Beverly answered- sounding disappointed in herself, "I don't think I have any power left, I'm surprised I managed to turn the lights out, honestly."

"Fuck," The taller boy with a slightly smaller boy in his arms muttered, "Where the fuck do we go now?"

"Over there!" Ben shouted, pointing at a clump of trees growing along where the fence was, then it clicked with Mike- he could get them out of there. The group ran over to the trees before launching themselves to the floor where they were relatively well hidden, they were still alone outside- but the men would be coming soon, they were probably readying more weapons or calling in more backup- or they really were stupid.

"What now?" Beverly asked, looking over everyone with a face of concern.

"Wait- Stanley would you be able to fly us over?" Someone suggested, Mike wasn't paying enough attention, he was trying to focus on moving one of the trees in a way they could climb it.

"Probably not," Stanley answered, "I've not been allowed my wings out properly in weeks- I don't know how good I'd be."

"I-It's better th-than just h-hiding here," Bill said, frantically looking around for another way out.

"Guys," Mike interrupted, finally harnessing his power, "here," as he said it one of the trees they were next to bent down in a 'U' shape, reaching low enough they should be able to get on it and then climb their way to freedom.

"Holy shit," Ben said, sounding amazed, "how do you all have such cool powers?"

Stan let out a dry laugh that Mike was too busy to question before Beverly asked, "What does everyone do? I can manipulate electricity... And I can like make people pass out or fall asleep, which is fun."

"I can turn invisible and read minds," Ben replied, sounding disappointed in himself for whatever reason.

Before anyone could answer Mike interrupted, "Okay- that should be good enough- shit they're coming- okay who first?"

"Ladies first?" Ben suggested, smiling at Beverly.

"How about Richie?" Beverly asked, "Eddie seems tired."

"Beverly you're the one who started this all- go first," The boy Mike now knew was Richie replied.

"I-I'll go f-first," Bill stated, clearly tired of the pointless back and forth, "It's st-stable y-yeah?"

"Should be," Mike replied, still focusing on the tree.

Bill climbed the tree with ease, followed by Richie and Eddie, then Beverly and finally Ben- leaving just Mike and Stanley, "Will you be able to climb it once we're all over?" Stanley asked, looking down at Mike.

Mike probably wouldn't, thinking about it. If he stopped focusing on warping the tree it would go back to normal, and then he'd be stuck, "No- but it's fine, you go. I'll be fine."

Stanley stood there for a second, looking between Mike and the tree a few times before looking back to the building- where there were now various guards walking around with torches looking for them, "Fuck it," Stanley muttered as he put his arms around Mike with no warning and leaped of the ground, it took Mike completely off guard so the tree ended up snapping back into place almost instantly- definitely catching the guard's attention as Stanley flapped his wings a few times, presumably getting used to them. After a few seconds of hovering in the air Stan flew them over the fence and lost balance just in time to crash down to the floor with the others. It was then Mike saw how red and bruised Stanley's wrists were, it was darker out because of how late it was- but even in the dim light the boy's wrists looked bad.

"Give me your hand," Mike said to Stanley, causing a confused look to appear on his face.

"Why?" He asked, not sounding convinced at the idea.

"Just, here," Mike reached out and gently took one of Stanley's hands in his own; Stanley's palm was facing up and resting in Mike's palm with his thumb rested across Stanley's hand. Mike then took his spare hand and started running it along Stanley's wrist with the others now looking. Stanley winced at first and grabbed onto Mike's thumb at the weird sensation going through his wrist. Mike circled his hand around the boy's wrist a few times before pulling away, revealing Stanley's skin completely healed. As Stanley looked over his newly healed skin his wings seemed to loosen up a bit and drooped to his sides, which Mike took as a good sign, "Holy shit," Stanley breathed out in disbelief before looking at Mike with a smile, "How?"

"I don't know, it's just a thing I can do," Mike replied, "give me your other hand."

Stanley complied and Mike repeated the action, causing Stanley to very visibly relax and smile more at everyone.

"That's so cool- can you do anything else?" Eddie asked, still in Richie's lap.

"That's about it," Mike replied, smiling at the smaller boy, "We should get going- we're still just outside the place."

"Let's go then," Beverly said as she jumped up, "Over there?" she pointed at what looked like a woods or forest, it would be good for hiding while they worked out what their next move was.

"S-Sounds g-good to m-me," Bill replied for all of them, and the group set off.

 

 

 


	2. let's make it rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just here to say that I might not update this for a couple of days now as I'm trying to finish up the last chapter of 'The Unlucky Seven' (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816309/chapters/36818073) but I won't leave this one too long, don't worry aha <3

Beverly and Bill were already up and moving, the others close behind as Richie looked at Eddie, who was still leaning on him heavily, "Able to walk yet hot-stuff?" Richie didn't really understand what the smoke that was still flooding out of the small boy's body meant fully- but from what he knew he assumed it happened when he was worked too hard or pushed too far.

"Don't call me that," Eddie started, his voice groaning slightly, "I'll try, can you help me stand up?"

"Sure," Richie kept a firm hold on each of Eddie's forearms as the shorter boy tried to stand up, he managed for a second but just as Richie was about to let go of his arms Eddie's legs gave out, thankfully Richie was able to catch him, but the smaller boy still seemed annoyed.

"I can't do anything," Eddie groaned, desperately trying to regain his balance, "I'm so weak it's annoying."

"I'm sure your insanely strong- these people just know how to wear you down, y'know? Happens to me too," Richie smiled at the frustrated boy, "just let me carry you again- I'll give you a piggy-back?"

"A what?" Eddie asked, now seeming less annoyed and more confused.

"Wait, you don't know- never mind. Hop on my back and wrap your arms around my neck, I'll hold your legs around my waist and then quickly catch up with the others."

Eddie followed Richie's instructions, Richie had to help the boy onto his back slightly, whatever they did to him was obviously bad, the small boy had next to no energy left. As Eddie weighed next to nothing, Richie was able to run pretty quickly and catch up with the other five, who were nearing the forest type area. It was dark- so the size of the tree clump wasn't obvious, but it would be fine for now. They'd have to work out a more detailed plan later, as so far all they know is that they need to get far away from the laboratory place. Who knows if they'd even be able to find somewhere- and what would they eat or drink? It didn't matter, right now Richie had to worry about getting him and Eddie to the others and hiding in a decent enough place so the guards won't find them. They might not have long before the men start searching around the site, if they haven't started looking already.

Thankfully, the clump of trees seemed like it was more of a forest, and looked to stretch quite far- it was also dense enough to cover them for the time being, "So are we going to just crash here or go further in?" Richie asked as he adjusted Eddie on his back, who was somehow managing to keep his legs wrapped around Richie's waist quite tightly.

"W-We should p-probably g-go further," Bill suggested, "Who knows i-if they'll c-come l-looking in h-here."

"Shit," Beverly muttered, "I didn't even consider that. We should probably move quickly then, right?"

"We should move as far away as possible, as quick as possible," Ben pointed out, "So are we just going to walk until we bump into something?"

"What would we bump into?" Stan quizzed, "We're in a forest."

"I don't know- a road or something," Ben replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"Why don't we walk for a little while then try to camp out somewhere? Like we could climb a tree or something, we don't want to tire ourselves out as we don't have food or anything," Mike said- it made sense, if they walked for too long they'd get hungry and tired and who knows how far this forest goes- they really needed to just hide somewhere for the night.

"If we camped out somewhere Eds would be able to walk when we headed off again too," Richie said- he didn't mind carrying Eddie, the boy weighed nothing- but Eddie seemed slightly agitated by the situation earlier.

"I don't want to slow us down- so we don't have to hide somewhere," Eddie said from where he was perched on Richie's back, "and please stop calling me that, it's not my name."

"So," Beverly stated, "Walk for a little while, find somewhere to hide, camp out for the night. Then, what? We properly plan out what we're going to do tomorrow?"

"That works," Stan agreed, "we just need to get far enough away- without going too far."

"There'll probably be a road leading to the building- so if we somehow bump into that we could potentially make our way to a town or something?" Mike suggested.

"Where are we meant to go after that though?" Richie asked.

"W-We'll w-worry about th-that later, w-we should r-rest, like y-you said, E-Eddie needs t-to g-get better again," Bill replied.

Richie just nodded his head at Bill and then the seven were walking again, it was hard to see where they were going because it was so dark out, but they were doing fine. Every so often Richie would turn to look at Eddie, who's head was now resting on his shoulder, just to make sure he was okay. The smoke coming out of him was practically gone now- just a small amount still coming from his forearms and thighs, it shouldn't be too much longer before he's able to walk again- but even if it turned out to be a while, Richie would happily carry him. Richie would probably carry any of them though, maybe besides Stan- the wings might get in the way slightly, he'd still try though. He hardly knew them but he could already tell they'd quickly become close friends, besides the fact that they didn't really have a choice, all of them seemed like good people- and they were all fucking badass.

* * *

By the time the group had made it to a suitable place to hide for a little while Eddie basically felt better, he was freezing though. Apparently, he felt the cold extremely easily as no one seemed bothered by the temperature and he was hugging Richie's back for any possible body heat, with his teeth chattering. Everyone else was also wearing trousers- Eddie was never given the option for longer pants, probably because of his smoking, but he now wished he had a pair. They had no way of warming up, unless Eddie was able to light a fire, which at this point was incredibly unlikely. So far, all Eddie had really been was a nuisance and extra weight, it was fine though- if they got sick of him he could go back, he'd be pretty easy to track down anyways, as soon as he's slightly nervous or tired he starts smoking up. He'd probably be the one to get the whole group caught in the end.

As Richie slid Eddie off his back and onto the floor, before sitting down next to him, Eddie felt his chest and inner thighs get even colder- they'd remained relatively warm when Richie was carrying him, but now they were the coldest parts of his body. Out of instinct Eddie pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them, doing anything to become even slightly warmer. Everyone had sat in a circle, either on purpose or by accident- Eddie wasn't paying too much attention, before they started discussing their plan.

"So we're here for the night?" Stan asked, his wings wrapped around his body slightly, he was probably slightly cold too.

"We've been walking for a while- it should be far enough," Beverly pointed out, "If it isn't we'll just beat the shit out of them again."

"How are we meant to sleep out here?" Richie asked, "It's freezing and the ground is wet and rock solid."

"Didn't realize you were used to luxury," Stan dryly replied.

"You know what I mean," Richie teasingly said.

"We should probably try to sleep either way," Ben pointed out, "Who knows how long we'll be walking tomorrow."

"We should get to know each other first though," Mike suggested, "I can't imagine any of us getting too much sleep anyway."

"What we just introduce ourselves one after the other?" Eddie asked, figuring he should probably join in, even if it's just a little.

"Yeah," Beverly answered, "Who first?"

"I-I'll go?" Bill offered, before introducing himself, "I-I'm Bill, and I c-can do th-things with m-my mind, l-like move o-objects a-and make f-force fields, i-it's not the b-best power, but I like it. I'm 16, b-but I don't know w-when my b-birthday is, I-I've just always l-lived a-at the l-lab. Th-that's it r-really, w-which is k-kind of s-sad."

"To be honest none of us have much to us besides the lab," Stan pointed out, "I'm Stan, hello. I have wings and can move quick. I've lived in the lab for as long as can remember, I'm 16 and I've spent the last few years of my life chained to a wall."

"What?" Mike's face basically dropped in partial shock but also sympathy, and Eddie and the others looked at Stan in a similar way.

"They realized I don't have any powers so locked me away, it's why my wrists were so fucked."

"You have powers," Eddie chimed in, "They're better than mine, I'm useless," Eddie was still hugging his knees and shivering as he said it, which probably just proved his point further.

"They're hardly powers," Stan laughed a little, "So, what do you do?"

"I can make fires, but it's nothing amazing, usually I get too tired and smoke up after a little while- they were trying to make me better, but it usually just hurts."

"What'd they do to you?" Mike asked, looking slightly concerned at Eddie

 

_-_

_"Edward, this is serious. We must know how far you can go- your refusal to cooperate is only making this process longer. Follow your simple instructions and we won't have to take further action to get our desired results, and you can go back to your room," Dr. Dennis said, shaking his head at Eddie who was collapsed on the floor, smoking slightly. The boy knew he was right, Dr. Dennis was just trying to study and learn from him, and Eddie's refusal to listen wasn't ideal for the man. But it just hurt too much- Eddie couldn't sit up without his whole body stinging, let alone set another pile of hay-bales on fire._

_"I'm sorry," Eddie mumbled, "I can't move- it hurts, I'm trying- really."_

_"Obviously not hard enough, Edward. Everyone else staying here is happy to listen and follow the simple instructions we give, it's disappointing knowing you're the one that doesn't."_

_"I'm trying!" Eddie whined, "I promise- I really am, but-"_

_"Edward, I'm not going to ask again. Stand up and set the next lot on fire, with as much force as you can. You won't get better without practice- you do want to get better, don't you?"_

_"Yes," Eddie groaned as he painfully forced himself up, "I'm sorry I-" Eddie was cut off by the sudden pain shooting through his back at the movement, but as he hunched over and grabbed his stomach Dr. Dennis had little to no sympathy._

_"Edward, now would be ideal."_

_Eddie straightened his posture and tried to ignore the pain, he needed to do this- to truly prove he was able. He wasn't weak- he could be strong, he just had to learn to work through the pain like Dr. Dennis always said, he had to work harder. The boy spun his hands slightly in the same way he always would, and although it didn't feel good, he eventually had a small fire floating between his two palms. His hands were starting to shake slightly, and he was smoking more by the second, but he had to work through it, he had to be strong. Everyone else managed it- why couldn't he? Eddie was just about to throw the fire at the target; he was just about to please Dr. Dennis and make him proud, but just before he was able to actually complete the task his stomach was twisting in a tight and sudden shock, and his legs gave out slightly- causing him to crash to the floor once again, losing the fire he had prepared and Dr. Dennis' patience._

_"I'm-" Eddie hissed at the impossible to ignore pinch in his stomach, "s-sorry."_

_"Edward, I will give you one more chance. Stand up, make a fire, complete the task. It is one small fire- can you really not even set one small fire?"_

_Eddie had only set twenty or so fires today, normally he could at least get to thirty- so Dr. Dennis was right to be disappointed- but Eddie just couldn't do anything- it hurt too much- everything hurt; his stomach, his spine, his head felt like complete fuzz and static, and his hands were shaking to the point it would be near impossible to start a stable and suitable fire._

_"I'm going to count to five- I need you to be up and working by then or else there will be repercussions."_

_"B-But... I- I can't" Eddie winced in response._

_"1..."_

_"P-Please- give me ten minutes-" Eddie groaned again, his thighs now burning up too, "I can do it!"_

_"2..."_

_"But- please... I-I will do it, please," Eddie begged, in return just being ignored by the doctor._

_"3..."_

_Eddie gave up pleading, there was no point. If he couldn't do the task he wasn't worthy of a conversation of his state, if he was better at his power and could last longer then Dr. Dennis would respect him- but how was he supposed to respect anyone huddled on the floor after setting twenty small fires?_

_"4..."_

_Eddie knew what was coming- and winced more at the thought of it, but he deserved it. He needed to be punished until he learnt how to be stronger; if he couldn't show strength he didn't deserve to be treated like someone who was strong._

_"And, 5. You really do disappoint me sometimes Edward, your refusal to learn or listen is really quite frustrating. We're going to have to get the hose, or someth- actually," Dr. Dennis paused for a second as he changed focus to the two assistants with him, "would we be able to test out the rain again? He's set up now, right?"_

_Eddie didn't know what Dr. Dennis was talking about, it had rained once a few weeks prior and they somehow managed to make it happen a few times, Eddie didn't know how they did it- but they knew it hurt him, so it wasn't an ideal situation._

_"Yes sir, he's been hooked up for a few minutes now."_

_"Well then gentlemen, let's make it rain."_

_Eddie was stuck on the floor with no energy as the three men made their way under the small sheltered area not too far away. One of the assistants said something on a walkie talkie and then it was completely silent for a few minutes, besides a few crackles from the walkie talkie or one of the men saying something Eddie couldn't hear fully._

_Then it hit- out of nowhere the sun was gone and the sky became a dark, thick grey- one similar to the smoke radiating out of Eddie. It started with thunder, which wasn't physically damaging in any way, but every crash and boom reminded Eddie of what was about to happen and how much pain he would be in for god knows how long, and then he would be dragged out here again in a few days and it would all repeat itself in the same way it always did. Eddie being weak and disappointing and then having to face the consequences for it- he should learn, really. All he needed to do was get stronger- become better at the one thing he was meant to be good at- but it was never that simple._

_The first drops of rain were spaced out, but big- each feeling like a fist pounding into his flesh- and then they became quicker and smaller and so, so, so much more frequent. Each was a bullet ripping through his flesh and soaking into his hair. The drops of water rolling down his face, arms and legs felt like a blade being dragged across his skin. Every drop or splash caused more screams and cries from Eddie as he curled in on himself, trying to reduce his surface area and pain to a minimum. Then the tears came, blending into the rain water and burning his flesh- the experience was pure torture, and far from over._

_The rain came in intervals, two minutes of being shot at with rain and then two minutes of bathing in what felt like pure death. It went on for so long Eddie stopped feeling the pain- it was still there, right in the pit of his stomach and deep in his skull, but he just became numb. It felt like he was dying, slowly slipping from one reality into another. But then there was another crash of thunder, jolting Eddie from his numb state and plunging him into pain once again._

_"Edward," Dr. Dennis was suddenly above Eddie, and Eddie could hardly open his eyes- let alone look up at or reply to the man standing above him, "I expect better efforts next time. You can take him away now men."_

_The hands on Eddie's wrists were rough and dangerous- careless about Eddie's well being. Then again, why would they care? Eddie was, after all, disappointing to all of them- these men were just trying to study and learn, and Eddie never failed to ruin it. As the boy's limp body dragged through the wet and cold grass it felt like Eddie was being dragged across hot coals- but at this point he couldn't even wince at the pain. He was only just about able to open his eyes. Once they were inside it felt even worse, Eddie's now incredibly sensitive skin dragging across the concrete wasn't a pleasant feeling, and neither was the soaking wet clothes clinging to the skin, if Eddie could, he would take them off once in his room- but he wouldn't be able to move for at least a day- maybe even longer._

_Just as Eddie was being dragged to his room he passed another boy being dragged in a similar fashion, he was just as wet as Eddie with long, black hair stuck to his face. Eddie hadn't seen the boy before, but assumed a similar thing had happened to him- he was forced into the rain as well- forced to feel the same pain. Weirdly, as Eddie was dragged by the other person he gave Eddie a look like he wanted to say something- he looked sympathetic- guilty almost. But Eddie couldn't understand why for the life of him. He didn't even know the guy, but the look of sympathy just proved how weak Eddie was and looked._

_-_

 

"They made it rain on me," Eddie answered simply.

"Oh," Mike replied, unsure on what to say he looked to Richie instead, "What do you do then?"

"I... uhh, I can control the weather," as Richie said it he looked guilty- not at anyone or anything in particular, but Eddie could recognize the look.

 


	3. Welcome to Derry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh idk about this one, I tried.  
> I also rewrote Bill's part like a million times oof

White lies could be good sometimes; they had the power to protect people from things they shouldn't know, or to protect someone from having to say something they don't want to. They don't ever harm anyone- just instead cut around the truth slightly, miss out a detail here or there and maybe add something new to the story. Bill never minded them, it was just like another form of force field- another shield to protect him from people and things. He didn't know these people he was now siting with- at all- but they somehow managed to escape some highly advanced and poorly secured laboratory together, so in a way they were now technically friends. Richie was introducing himself to the group, and Eddie just had, but Bill wasn't paying it too much attention. He'd introduced himself first to the other six, he knew fair well from too many experiences that blindly trusting people isn't a smart thing to do. He trusted his parents once- which didn't do him any good, and then he stupidly believed everything Dr. Dennis told him to start with, which also just ended badly for him. So, as far as these people are concerned he'd always lived at the lab and didn't know much about anything. That was the safest option, besides somehow running off on his own- but that could end badly. He'd have to stay with them for now and maybe break off later.

As Ben began to talk, Bill started to look around their surroundings- it was a dense forest type area, which was good because it meant that it would be easy to hide- but if they were found then there wouldn't really be anywhere to run. Bill could make another force field, or maybe throw a log at whoever was hunting them down. And if Eddie's fire powers were strong enough they might be able to set the whole forest on fire, but that's pretty dangerous and almost definitely wouldn't end well. The trees were decently thick though, so they could easily fit at least one or two of them behind each tree, not that they'd need to share. They were apparently also sleeping here for the night, Bill agreed to it because it did make the most sense- if they didn't sleep they'd get tired and probably lost in the dark, and Richie would be carrying Eddie for who knows how long. However, they'd need to appoint lookouts if they were sleeping- they'd be far too easy to catch if they were all asleep in a nice little opening, it would basically be them asking to be taken back there.

"So yeah," Ben carried on talking- Bill suddenly started listening again, not on purpose or anything- it was just suddenly all he could focus on, "I've lived there most my life, but I remember a time before it- with my parents. I don't know what happened to them, if they're okay. I don't even know how far away they are or what they looked like really."

"Wait some of you had a life before the lab and Dr. Dennis?" Eddie asked, looking at the group in pure surprise.

"Yeah," Mike answered- sitting across from Eddie, "I only lived in that place for a few years, the first 12 years of my life were happily spent with my family. We lived in this town called Derry, it was just off a bigger city..." A pause, "Then my parents- they died in a house fire, mom forgot to check the stove or something, I don't know. I was taken pretty soon after and ended up there."

Everyone, including Bill, looked at Mike for a second- no one really knowing what to say. That was completely different to what happened to Bill, he was practically thrown at the laboratory by his parents, then Dr. Dennis took Bill in as his own- and somehow, despite all the shit Dr. Dennis did- he was still better than Bill's parents.

 

_-_

_"Bill, this will be good for you, okay?" The boy's dad said as he drove his ten-year-old son to the laboratory he somehow heard about from someone._

_"I d-don't w-want t-t-to go!" Bill pleaded, practically in tears in the backseat. His mom had chosen to not get involved in this conversation, and was instead just looking out of the passenger seat window._

_"You need help Bill, you're not normal- these people specialize in this thing. They'll make you better, then we'll come get you again, okay?"_

_"I d-d-don't need f-fixing! I'm f-f-fine!" Bill carried on wailing from the back, kicking his legs in protest._

_"You don't have a say in this, we know what is best for you. We are your parents."_

_"W-W-What about G-G-G-Georgie? Where i-is he? I wa-want to s-s-say bye t-to h-him!"_

_"Bill- we told you. You cannot see him until you're better."_

_Bill stopped protesting at that, he knew he didn't really have a say. They were his parents, and they knew what was best for him, that's how parents work- it's their job. But he didn't want to go, he didn't even know where he was going. Apparently it would fix him and make him all better, but he had no idea what part of him needed to change- and how would they change him? Bill had bags packed, so it wouldn't just be a doctor appointment or something- he'd be where ever they're taking him for at least a night or two- which was scary. Bill had never spent a night away from home, and he didn't really want to now either. Georgie was at their grandparent's house, Bill hadn't seen his younger brother in a few days, and now it looked like he wouldn't be seeing him for a while. Bill hadn't even meant for it to happen, him and Georgie were just playing, like they always did. It wasn't Bill's fault he tripped up or that Georgie fell to the floor and had to be rushed to hospital. He always used to lift Georgie, either just the boy by himself or the rug or a beanbag with Georgie sat in it. It was fun- it was fine. But now, Bill's mom and dad were sending him to get fixed and he wasn't allowed to see his brother._

_They pulled into a long road after about three hours in the car, it was different to the other roads they'd been driving down- it was more thin, and there wasn't anything leading off it- it was just a long road surrounded by dust and a huge forest in the distance. Was Bill being left in the forest? Abandoned because of what he did- because of what was wrong with him? No, surely not. They'd just be passing through, and where ever he was going would be another while away. His parents wouldn't dump him- they were trying to help him. He was going to get fixed, go back home and see Georgie again- they'd have to make up some new games, but Bill could think that over when he was away._

_After a few minutes of driving the three of them were heading into the trees, the road gradually became more and more rundown until it was basically just a dust and dirt trail, no different than the public footpaths running through the parks and woods in Bill's town. The boy was still clueless as to where they were going, but the forest was nice. The leaves formed a roof of sorts above the car, but every so often a stripe of light could be seen forcing it's way through and onto the road. The sounds of birds and other animals could also be heard; woodpeckers drilling into trees, rabbits and other small creatures running between trees, clumps of birds breaking through the tree canopies at the sound of Bill's father's old car- it was nice, peaceful almost. Until the huge industrial building could be seen in the distance. There was a huge gate surrounding the place- with a person sized box outside it, presumably to let people in. Bill didn't know what it was- but at this point it was the only place they could be heading._

_Unsurprisingly, they were pulling up next to the box type thing a few moments after the building was in sight- and after Bill's dad showed the woman some papers and spoke for a little bit, the gate was opening and the three of them were driving inside. The building was huge, it seemed to be at least eight stories high, probably more. It was a huge block shape, but on each corner there was a slightly smaller block off the side of it, it was weird and big and Bill didn't want to leave the car. Bill's mom was the first to open her door and step onto the dirty tarmac, her heels clicked across the floor as she headed to the trunk to get Bill's bags. After her Bill's dad go out, and walked over to greet the older man now walking out of the building, the two spoke for a few minutes before Bill's mom joined in and, eventually, the three of them were walking over to Bill's door, to get him out the car and into the building._

_"We're heading off now," Bill's mother said, speaking for the first time in hours, "we'll miss you, okay honey."_

_"Yeah," Bill mumbled as he reluctantly got out the car._

_"This is Dr. Dennis, he's going to test and fix you," Bill's dad spoke a lot colder than his mom had, but that was just how the man was, "He's a good man- his work is very impressive. If anyone can fix you, it's him."_

_Bill didn't particularly care about the middle aged man stood in front of him or his work, Bill just wanted to be home with Georgie, but he tried to humor his dad anyway, "That's c-cool."_

_"Yes it is," a very forced smile appeared on his dad's face, "Goodbye son, we'll see you soon, okay?"_

_"B-Bye," was all Bill could get out, shifting on his feet awkwardly. He didn't want to be here- with this Dr. Dennis and this huge grey box of a building, he wanted to be home- with Georgie._

_His dad gave him a pat on the shoulder before his mom leaned down to give him a gentle hug, then the two of them were back in the car and reversing out- his dad's eyes stuck in the wing mirror and his mom refusing to look him in the eyes one more time. Bill never saw his mom, dad or Georgie ever again- he didn't know why, but he hated his parents for it._

_-_

 

"So they just found you and brought you here?" Stan asked Mike, "You don't think they..."

"What?" Mike asked, "They..?"

"Had the fire started," Stanley finished- his facial expression showed he realized how sick of an idea it was, but carried on, "Like it wouldn't surprise me."

"I don't think so," Mike paused for a second, "I've considered it before- but there's no real way they could have done it? The fire started from inside the house, I think it was just a coincidence they were able to get me."

"How did they find you all though?" Beverly asked, "I thought we all just existed there."

"So you don't remember life outside that place either?" Ben asked, the focus of the conversation now switching to Beverly.

"I'm like Eddie and Bill- I've always just lived there. I don't think I've had a life outside that place."

"Or you did and were too young to remember it," Stanley pointed out.

"Have you had a life before that place then Stan?" Richie asked.

"No, I've always just been there- I probably wasn't born there, like Eddie, Bill and Beverly, but I just don't remember anything. How about you?"

"Oh," Richie looked around for a second- considering what to say, "I was... Rescued I guess? I don't know, it doesn't really matter."

The conversation fell slightly flat after that, not that Bill was paying it too much attention anyways, he was still not involving himself too much. Really, his main (and only) priority was getting them all far away from the laboratory- then he could either break off and try to do his own thing, or they'd stick together if necessary.

"We should try to sleep," Ben suggested, "It's unlikely we'll be able to but it will help in the long run."

"Are we going to have lookouts?" Beverly asked, looking at Bill for whatever reason.

"Th-that's p-probably smart," Bill replied, "I w-will, I w-won't be able t-to sleep out h-here anyways."

"If you get tired wake me up," Beverly said, "and who else doesn't mind? In case we need a third?"

"I don't mind," Ben offered, "As Bill said, we won't be sleeping that well anyways."

Everyone tried to settle down into a comfortable position, which was near impossible as the ground was cold, rock sold and slightly damp, and there were little stones and sticks everywhere. Stan seemed to settle down the easiest, wings wrapped around his bare torso and laying on the floor- although anything is more comfortable than being chained to a wall for god knows how long. Mike also seemed comfortable enough, he was laying just next to Stan and either genuinely didn't mind the hard floor or just did a good job at pretending he didn't. Beverly, Ben and Richie all struggled a bit more- shifting and moving slightly every few minutes, but still seemed relatively okay. And then there was Eddie, the poor boy was stuck in shorts shorter than Bill had ever seen and the short sleeved button up shirt they all wear, it was also the same muddy beige color- at least they blended in slightly? Eddie was shivering like crazy and had his legs folded and pulled into his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs and his face in his knees.

"Eddie," Bill loudly whispered, knowing the others probably weren't asleep but still not wanting to wake anyone up.

"Yeah," Eddie whispered, sitting up slightly- still shivering like crazy.

"Y-You cold?" Bill asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm fine though."

"Y-You can h-have my shirt i-if you want, use i-it as a b-blanket or s-something?"

"Oh no!" Eddie shook his head, "Then you'd be cold- I'm fine, I'll be fine."

"Y-You sure? I d-don't mind," Bill really just wanted Eddie to accept the offer, before he regretted offering it at all.

"I'd feel too bad," Eddie whispered, "I'll survive, I've been through worse."

As Bill and Eddie spoke Richie shifted slightly from beside Eddie before whispering, "Come here Eds," and holding an arm out towards Eddie.

"I'm right next to you," Eddie pointed out, "What do you want?"

"Lay next to me- it'll make you warmer. Or just take Bill's shirt like he offered."

"I'm fine," Eddie tried convincing the two other boys- neither of them were convinced.

"Eds, you look ill- take the shirt or lay here," Richie said in an equally demanding and kind tone.

"Or b-both," Bill suggested, "Richie's r-right, y-you do look s-slightly s-sick."

A 'hmph' sound left Eddie as he positioned himself next to Richie, his knees still pulled up but this time between him and Richie and his arms between his chest and legs. Richie wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, who had very clearly relaxed since laying next to Richie- even in such a short amount of time.

"Sure you don't want the shirt?" Bill offered one more time, still not convinced Eddie would be warm enough.

"I'm fine, but thanks."

* * *

Mike was surprisingly able to sleep alright, it took a while to get used to the floor and actually settle down, but he was eventually able to sleep. Him and the other few who managed to get some rest- which were Stanley, Richie and Eddie- were woken up by the other three at some point in the morning, they couldn't be too sure what the time was as there wasn't a clock of any kind in sight, but judging from how it wasn't fully light out yet, it was probably about five or six in the morning- which wasn't bad. When he sat up he noticed Stanley's wings were gone, which was slightly weird- he looked different without them, he just looked normal. Everyone else looked the same, which was to be expected, except both Bill and Ben looked a lot more tired.

"We sh-should start m-moving," Bill started, "We d-don't know w-where they are or h-how s-safe we are h-here."

"Which way?" Richie asked, looking around where the group was standing. It all just looked the same- trees and bushes of various sizes and slightly different shades of green.

"Where d-did we c-come fr-from?"

"That way I think," Beverly said as she looked behind where she was standing and pointed slightly.

"L-Let's g-go that w-way then," Bill said it firmly, he clearly liked the idea of being in charge- which was only slightly annoying.

"Why would we do that?" Eddie asked, "We'd be walking right back to them!"

"N-No," Bill tried to explain, "We c-could walk th-that way a-and th-then see if th-there's a r-road or s-something, th-then w-we'd be a-able to f-find a-an a-actual town. L-Like we s-s-said la-last night."

"We won't walk into any open spaces either," Beverly stated, "We can stay within the trees but follow any paths we see."

"And we blend in," Stanley said as he looked down at his pants.

"Let's go then," Ben chimed as he smiled at the group, and they were off.

The group walked for what felt like an eternity, they were basically walking single-file, with the exception of Beverly and Bill who were leading them to wherever. At first the surroundings were fresh and new, slightly calming almost. But after a short while stepping on the occasional rock or stick got more annoying, and the sound of woodpeckers became increasingly loud and impossible to ignore. No one was talking either, not that Mike knew what they'd talk about- but it was just weird. Obviously the atmosphere should be awkward and slightly tense- they practically broke out of prison, but a conversation of some sorts would be nice.

Mike was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by Ben shouting, "Look there!"

Mike, as well as everyone else, turned to look where Ben was pointing. Sure enough, there was a dust road just past where they'd been walking along the edge of the trees. It wasn't too big, and it wasn't a proper road, but it was something.

"W-We should f-follow i-it," Bill said, sounding determined. The stuttering boy then looked behind the group slightly, "L-Look, s-see- there's th-the lab."

Sure enough, the top of the lab could just be seen over the tree tops- meaning they'd gotten somewhere at least, "So we stay just inside the trees and just let the path take us somewhere? And what if the trees end?" Mike asked

"W-We c-carry o-on g-going," Bill said, still sounding extremely confident and determined in what he was saying, "i-it's the o-only way w-we c-can g-go."

"What if they find us though?" Eddie chimed in, clearly unsure on the plan.

"I'm with short-stuff on this one, we'd be easy to spot on a road leading to the lab," Richie shrugged as he said it.

"We can't just hide in the forest," Stan pointed out.

"Exactly- none of us were  _really_ able to sleep last night and we need food and water or  _something,_ " Beverly sounded as determined as Bill.

"Let's just follow the path from the forest for as long as we can- then we'll work out the next step when we need to," Mike suggested.

"That's fair," Ben thankfully agreed, "Lets just focus on staying in the trees for now."

The silent walk started again, one after the other walking along the trees- keeping parallel to the path. Looking ahead it was clear that the forest type area ended relatively soon, and they'd have to make another plan. Mike assumed the others also noticed the sudden lack of trees and clear space they were approaching, but everyone remained quiet. Something should be said, like a 'hey there aren't any trees there' or a 'what are we doing now?' but, apparently that has to be left until they were right at the edge of the forest- in clear daylight looking across the huge open space and long thin road leading to what looks like another road. It wasn't too far, they could easily walk there in a few minutes- but they were also basically right in front of the lab. Who knew what cameras they had set up, or if there were guards waiting for them.

"What do we do?" It was Eddie who spoke up first, fidgeting next to Richie. He was able to walk today, thankfully. It was obvious that he was slightly annoyed by his tiredness the day prior.

"R-run," Bill sounded so determined in himself it physically hurt.

"Do you have a death wish?" Mike asked in complete disbelief.

"Considering w-we all escaped, I d-don't think a-any of u-us d-do."

"Well by the sounds of it you're the one who wants to get us right back in there!" Mike carried on arguing.

"He's right Mike," Beverly joined in- because at this point why wouldn't she?

"No- he's not. We can't just sprint across an empty shooting field!"

"Shooting field?" Eddie looked at Mike with a face of confusion.

"Who knows what cameras they have set up- if they see us then we're dead."

"And if we stay in the forest we starve!" Beverly shouted louder.

"Let's run," Stanley said far more calmly than the three arguing.

"Easy for you to say," Mike said probably slightly too aggressively.

Before Stanley could reply, however, Eddie once again chimed in, "I'm not that fast- and my stamina is shit. If we run that I'm going to smoke up for sure."

"You'll be fine Eds," Richie started, "I'm sure you'll run quick."

"Richie shut up- I don't just want to be extra weight again. I agree with Mike, there must be another way."

"Eddie just believe in yourself," Ben smiled at the shorter boy, "I guarantee you you're quicker than me."

"Probably not I'm useless at everything," the short boy frowned as he said it.

"I say we run," Stanley cut in, "Can anyone here, besides Eddie, actually not run?"

"Me- probably," Ben said, he only sounded slightly disappointed.

"Okay so- we all run and if Ben starts slowing down I'll easily be able to help- and same goes for Eddie or Mike or whoever- okay?"

"No," Mike knew this was a stupid idea, "We can't just fucking sprint like that! Are you insane?"

"Yes," was the only reply Stanley gave, which was just great.

"R-Ready?" Bill asked, looking over the group.

"No," Eddie completely vocalized Mike's thoughts, but Mike wasn't going to disagree any more- it looked like at this point it was either run to 'safety' or hide in the forest.

"Okay," Beverly too a deep breath, "3... 2... 1!"

They were all running- even Ben and Eddie who didn't think they could, in fact Eddie was the second quickest out of them, only behind Stanley. Mike, Richie and Bill were all pretty level, a few feet behind Eddie, and Beverly and Ben were behind them. Mike couldn't tell if Beverly was actually slower at running, or if she was just staying with Ben- but he also didn't care that much- he was mainly trying not to get shot by whatever guards could be hiding literally anywhere. After a few minutes Stanley was at the T junction and showing no signs of slowing down- making a sharp left turn and running just as quick down the now slightly bigger/wider road- Eddie was still surprisingly right behind him, also showing no sign of slowing down and the rest were just a few steps behind.

They actually managed to make it decently far down the next road before Ben was calling out from slightly behind the rest of them, "Guys!... Wait!... Ugh... Can we stop for a second? Holy shit."

After they all stopped and the sudden rush of adrenaline went down slightly they were all (minus Stanley) insanely out of breath, most of them hunched over with their hands on their knees, or in Beverly and Ben's case laying on the floor.

"Holy shit- guys!" Eddie cheered between breaths, "I did it! I ran! Did you see it! I was able to run!"

Mike smiled at the boy, too out of breath to talk- thankfully, however, Richie apparently wasn't too tired to join in, "I told you! You were amazing!"

Eddie's smile only became bigger at Richie's encouraging words, "I fucking did it!" he shouted again, jumping slightly.

As the two boys carried on celebrating Eddie's speed and everyone except Stanley was getting their breath back, Mike noticed Stanley looking at a small billboard type sign in the distance, out of interest Mike walked the few feet to Stan until he was right next to him. He looked over the sign and was completely in shock at what he saw- in huge bold slightly colorful letters read ' _ **WELCOME TO DERRY**_ ' Mike couldn't believe it- there was no way he was this close to home this whole time? He was so close to everything he knew yet completely unaware.

"Is this where you used to live?" Stanley asked, turning to look at Mike,

"Yeah," Mike replied, looking back at the blond boy, still in slight disbelief.

"Do you know anywhere we could stay?"

Mike thought for a second- he obviously didn't have his old house, or a neighbor they could stay with... But- he did have his granddad. Yes! His granddad, he was never really home, always away doing something in a nearby town- and he owned a huge barn- perfect for the seven of them to stay in. They'd be able to hide there easily, have plenty of space and no one else would really be there. It was too perfect, really.

"I just might," Mike replied, beaming at Stanley.

 

 


	4. Is that a swing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIGH-KEY based the farm house in this off my granddad's house in America because I'm now in England and after he died my grandma lost the house and I have so many memories there aghhh  
> Literally based Richie and Eddie in this off 8 year old me and 6 year old Liam (my brother)  
> ugh I'm sad now :((((
> 
> but this was really fun to write, I can't remember the actual house perfectly, but I'm sure I did it justice here slightly :)

"Okay so," Mike started as he looked over the group- he should easily be able to get them to his granddad's house, the others would just have to agree to it. Which would be fine right? It was their only real option, "I know where we can stay for the time being. We're in Derry," Mike paused to gesture to the sign behind him and Stan, "meaning my Granddad's house and barn is near here. He probably wont be there either, so if we go there we'll probably end up having the place to ourselves."

"How do we get in if he's not there?" Beverly asked.

"He always left a spare key under the flower pot next to the door," Mike replied before quickly adding, "Can't imagine he'd change now."

"S-So how f-far i-is it?" Bill asked, "W-We sh-should g-get moving s-soon. We're st-still close t-to the l-lab."

"And what happens when your Granddad gets back? Or he's there when we get there?" Richie added, a still very smiley Eddie next to him.

"Derry's a small town so, no longer than 20 minutes? And if he's home I'll talk to him first, and then you would all be allowed in. If he gets home when we're there I'll just explain the situation to him."

"We could figure out more details when we're there," Ben pointed out, "but we should really get moving now- we're standing completely in the open."

"Lead the way Flower-Power!" Richie cheered from where he was standing

Mike smiled slightly at the annoying nickname but turned on his feet and started walking towards the small town, "There's a few stores in Derry too- but not much. So, when we go to buy most of the things we need we'll need to head into the city- which is about a 40 minute walk, could be up to an hour though if we're slow- or if we were quick we could probably get it done in half an hour."

Mike looked behind him to the others, it felt weird not looking at them as he was talking. Bill nodded his head slowly for a second before asking, "How are w-we going to g-get m-m-money?"

"I'm hoping my Granddad still has his savings jars- there's easily hundreds of bucks in them. I'm sure he won't mind us borrowing some of it."

Everyone just nodded in agreement as they let Mike lead the way to the barn, Mike was slightly off when he said 20 minutes, it ended up taking the group of beige wearing teens half and hour to get to the barn, but that was probably because Mike got slightly lost at places. Although he had lived in Derry most of his life, a few years locked in the same room can really fuck up someone's memory. When they finally got there though it was exactly how Mike remembered it. His granddad lived completely on the outskirts of the already small town, the closest shop was a ten minute drive. So, they were pretty much just surrounded by fields as they walked up the dry and cracked dirt track that acted as a road. The house itself was white, it had a few brown or grey stains, and the paint was peeling, but it was white nonetheless. Positioned to the right and slightly behind the house was a dirty red barn- just bigger than the house and perfect for the seven of them to sleep in. There was also a small clump of trees stretching behind the two buildings and somewhere hidden beyond them (if Mike could remember correctly) was an old stable that used to be home to his mother's horse. By now, he assumed the horse wouldn't be there anymore, but the stable still should be.

"This place is amazing," Eddie said in awe as he walked forward slightly, until he was level with Mike, "it doesn't look real."

"Really?" Mike asked, smiling down at the shorter boy.

Eddie looked like he was about to reply until he saw the big tree in front and to the left of the house, it had a tire hanging from one of the branches from when Mike's dad was a child. Eddie's face dropped in pure excitement at the sight of it, "Is that a swing?" Eddie asked as it was a unicorn or mermaid he saw, and Mike could here a small laugh from a few of the others behind him at Eddie's excitement.

"Yep," Mike replied, popping the 'p' sound at the end.

"Can I go on it?" Eddie looked up at Mike like he was a small child asking their parent for something, which Mike found equally precious and slightly weird.

He just nodded at the boy before saying, "Knock yourself out," as he gestured towards the tree.

Eddie ran over to it and just as he got there turned to the group and shouted, "Can someone push me?!" Richie was quick to agree and run over to Eddie, who was now positioning himself on the swing, before grabbing onto the ropes and pulling both the tire and Eddie back, allowing Eddie to fly forward. Eddie was holding onto the ropes for dear life and screaming in pure excitement. Mike and the others watched the duo for a few moments before Bill asked, "Sh-should we ch-check for the k-key then?"

"Probably," Mike agreed, still watching the two boys on the swing- Richie now also on the tire, his feet either side of Eddie- standing up, and he was bending his legs in a way that meant the swing kept moving back and forth.

Mike started walking up the path to the house, it was just a few stone tiles shoved in the grass, all of which were covered in moss. Once at the door Mike looked down at the familiar dirt covered welcome mat before lifting the flower pot slightly, happy to see the old brass key sat there, "Bingo," he smiled, waving the key in front of the others, causing them to smile too.

"Should we get Richie and Eddie before we go in?" Stan asked, looking back at the two boys were were still laughing loudly and swinging wildly under the tree.

"Aww," Beverly cooed at the sight of them, "they're having so much fun though. I feel like a proud mother."

"You've n-not even known th-them a d-day," Bill pointed out, but still laughing slightly.

"But look at my babies! You're all my babies, I rescued you all after all."

"Oh, so you're the crazy fucker that started this whole uprising?" Stanley asked as he smiled at Beverly.

"Proudly."

Mike lead everyone into the house, the door went into a small hallway type area with a shoe rack and a cabinet opposite it, and then once through the entrance way they were in the living room. It was a pretty typical living room- fireplace on the far wall with two old leather couches positioned in an 'L' shape in front of it, with an oriental rug placed between them and the fire place. There was a pile of thick woolen blankets on one of the couches, and a small pile of papers on the other. Behind the couches and against the other wall, in front of the window, was Mike's granddad's old wooden desk, that was also scattered with papers, pens and a dusty desktop monitor. Beverly was quick to walk in and lay down on one of the couches, Ben and Bill following her. Stan, instead, opted to ask Mike if there was any food. The kitchen was practically connected to the living room, a semi-large breakfast bar separating the two- three stools were a couple of feet away from the one couch- meaning Stan would be able to sit there with the others in the living room.

"There will probably be something in the fridge, I'm hungry too," Mike suggested- leading Stanley into the kitchen. The kitchen was fairly big, as well as the breakfast bar there was also an island in the middle of it and about a three-foot walkway around it. Mike smiled at the sight of the fridge, it was just how he remembered it; covered in alphabet magnets, postcards and photos of his family. Stanley was looking at one of the photos of Mike and his mother, he was about five in the photo, meaning his mother would have been roughly twenty-seven.

"Your mom?" Stan asked, looking from the photo to Mike.

"Yeah," Mike said it so quietly it was basically a breath.

"She looks like you, a lot."

"Thanks," Mike said before leaving a slight pause, "I really miss her, I just... I don't know."

"I get it," Stanley was a lot quieter now too, "I've never lost anyone, but... I already can't imagine losing one of you."

Mike smiled at Stanley, who was still looking over various photos on the fridge before saying, "We should probably get some food, if there is any."

"Oh- yeah. That'd be good."

Mike opened the fridge and thankfully, it had a decent amount of food in it. plastic boxes of sliced turkey and beef (that Mike wouldn't be eating), cheese, pickles and tons more. There should easily be something they all like.

"Does anyone else want food?" Mike asked louder, turning to the others who were now chatting on the couches.

"We should probably all eat something," Beverly replied, sitting up slightly from where she was collapsed on Ben, "and get Richie and Eddie in here- they're still screaming and laughing out there."

"We can make sandwiches," Stanley suggested, "There's bread just there and some stuff in here. You guys go get Richie and Eddie?"

"I'd feel bad ruining their fun," Ben said as he looked out the window at the two of them.

"H-How about y-you go g-get your ch-children B-Beverly?"

Beverly groaned slightly before pushing herself up and going to the door.

* * *

"Richie- AHH! Stop!" Eddie screamed in between howls of laughter, Richie was now back on the floor and pulling the swing as far back as it would go, until his arms were above his head slightly holding the tire and Eddie so high before letting go of it and letting Eddie swing back and forth a few times. Eddie had no idea how long they'd been out there, or what the others were doing- but he also didn't really care, he liked this; the swing, playing around with Richie, being outside- it was fun.

"Richie! Eddie!" Beverly shouted from the doorway, leaning out slightly to look at and talk to the two boys.

"Yeah?!" Richie shouted back, pausing his actions so Eddie was just being held in the tire.

"We're getting lunch ready, and we need to run through our plan. Come on," she cheered from were she was standing, she looked slightly guilty for pulling the boys away from what they were doing, but determined at the same time.

"You sound like a mom," Eddie pointed out, still perched in the tire Richie was now struggling slightly to keep hold of.

"And you're acting like children, come on."

Richie let out a groan to which Eddie laughed at, then Richie was laughing too and before they knew it the two of them were in a complete fit of giggles.

"Guys," Beverly pleaded from the doorway, "Come on. Are you seriously not hungry?"

"I'm hungry," Eddie said as he managed to stop himself from laughing.

"Same," Richie agreed, smiling over to Beverly.

"Then come on!" A pause, "Oh God I really do sound like a mom."

Richie lowered the swing slowly so Eddie was able to get off, and then the two made their way over to Beverly who was still smiling at them, "So what are we having for lunch? Is there food here?" Eddie asked as they all went inside.

"Sandwiches, I'm not sure what fillers though."

As the three walked inside Bill and Ben could be seen taking up a couch each, and Stanley and Mike were at the kitchen island, seven plates in front of them with 14 pieces of bread in the process of being buttered. Eddie liked the house, the rug was pretty and there was lots of space. There was a shelf wrapping itself around the living room walls, right near the top, and it had books and ornaments scattered over top of it as well as a few hanging plants. It felt like a home- somewhere safe.

"No-Shirt! Flower-Power!" Richie cheered as he walked over to the breakfast bar, arms dramatically held out either side of him, "What type of sandwiches you making?"

Richie took a seat at the bar and Mike and Stanley could be heard groaning slightly, presumably at the nicknames, before Stanley answered, "We have turkey, beef, cheese or peanut butter and jelly."

As Stanley went through the sandwich fillings, Beverly made her way over to the couch Ben was sitting on and Eddie decided to sit next to Richie, he assumed they'd be eating in the kitchen anyways, so he may as well sit there.

"Are you making them?" Eddie asked, it looked like they would be, which made him feel slightly bad, but he just wanted to make sure.

"Makes more sense than seven of us crammed in here, what do you want?" Mike asked.

"PB&J please," Eddie replied, "no butter though- unless you've already buttered it all. I don't want to be annoying."

"I'll take a peanut butter jelly too, I don't care about butter, thanks guys," Richie flashed a toothy smile at Mike and Stanley as he said it.

Mike put the butter knife down and grabbed a clean one to start putting peanut butter on two slices of bread, then repeating it with jelly on two other pieces before putting them together to make Eddie and Richie's sandwiches, "What do the rest of you want?"

"I'll have turkey and cheese- wait, what kind of cheese is it?" Beverly asked as she stretched her neck up slightly to look at Mike.

"Swiss," Stanley replied, after checking the packet.

"Okay yeah, turkey and cheese please!"

"Bill? Ben?" Stan quizzed from the kitchen, finishing buttering the last piece of bread.

"I'll just have turkey, if you don't mind," Ben responded.

"I'll t-take a ch-cheese and l-like B-Beverly," Bill said, before quickly adding, "Thanks!"

Mike and Stan were able to finish the sandwiches relatively quickly, Mike making Bill, Ben and Beverly's turkey/turkey and cheeses and Stanley making a PB&J for both him and Mike. Once finished Mike then walked Ben, Bill and Beverly's to them on the couch as Stanley sat next to Richie and Eddie at the bar, bringing the three sandwiches with him- leaving Mike to stand at the end of the breakfast bar, eating his sandwich.

"S-So, what's th-the p-plan?" Bill was the first to speak, and obviously still very set on having a plan. Eddie didn't really see the fuss in needing a huge plan, he was just happy to be out of that place and in a nice home. Sure, they needed to work out money and food and sleeping arrangements and what they were actually going to do, but surely that could wait at least a day?

"We need to buy more food," Mike pointed out, "We just about finished the bread and that's the only in-date food we have."

"Okay," Beverly said right before taking another bite of her sandwich, everyone waited for her to finish chewing before she said, "So, should we go to a store after lunch... Or whatever meal this is?"

"We can't all go out," Eddie said, "We'd look suspicious all dressed the same, like just seven of us all in brown suits? What if the guards start asking around?"

"We also need people to set up beds somehow," Stanley started, "Where are we sleeping Mike?"

"The barn- there's lots of space and if my granddad shows up in the middle of the night we won't just be in here."

"What are we sleeping on?" Ben asked, after taking the last bite of his sandwich.

"We have some airbeds in the attic, and a few old mattresses too. If need be we can also make beds out of the hay, but there should be enough mattresses. We could also always double up," Mike started, "I can get them after I finish- with some help- and then a few of us can set them up while the others go to the store?"

"That sounds good," Richie agreed, now spinning in his stool, "Who's going to the store?"

"I will," Mike stated, "as none of you know where it is- then another two or three of you?"

"I'll go," Beverly offered.

"Me too," Stan agreed.

Ben and Bill looked at each other for a second before Bill suggested, "I'll c-come t-too? Th-then R-Richie, E-E-Eddie and B-Ben c-can st-stay?"

"That sounds good," Eddie agreed- he liked Richie, a lot. He just got along with Richie the best, as soon as they met Richie was willing to just carry Eddie around for ages, they could have easily left him. Ben was nice too- Eddie hadn't spoken to him as much, but he seemed really, really nice.

"Richie, Hot-Stuff and Mind Control? Dream fucking team," Richie added, flashing Ben some finger guns as he spun on his stool some more.

After they finished eating Mike, Stanley and Bill left to get the beds. Eddie and Richie stayed sat on their stools, as did Beverly and Ben on the couch, but Eddie really wanted to go back on the swing. It was childish really, Eddie didn't know how old he was exactly as he was never told, but he looked younger than Bill, Stan and Richie who were all 16. Ben was 15, as well as Beverly- and Mike never said. He was probably 15 or just a really short 16 year old, but either way- it was still childish to want to play on the swing again. It was just so much fun though, screaming and laughing with Richie. He liked Richie, he really did. They were all amazing but Richie just always seemed so happy to be with Eddie, and when Eddie ran all that way from the trees to the Derry sign Richie was just as proud as he was. The others congratulated him, but Richie was jumping up and down hugging him. Mike and Stanley were nice too, they seemed to care about everyone a lot- as did Eddie- but they really showed it. They were the ones who made them all lunch, and were now getting the beds out with Bill. Bill was really cool too, he seemed on edge a lot of the time- and very plan-driven. But he offered Eddie his shirt, even after Richie had helped out in the end. Eddie liked all of them- and already he'd trust any of them with his life, especially Beverly or Ben- Beverly was like a protective older sister and Ben was just so kind and soft and amazing. Eddie liked all of them, a lot.

Eddie was woken from his thoughts by Mike and Bill stumbling down the stairs that lead into the initial entry way with two old mattresses, followed by Stanley who was carrying a few airbeds, "There's blankets next to Ben," Mike said, slightly out of breath, "and then some more upstairs with some pillows- which I'll get in a second."

Once the mattresses were leant against the wall next to the door awkwardly and Stanley had placed the airbeds next to them, Mike had disappeared back up the stairs to get more blankets as Ben picked up the few blankets from the couch- eventually Mike was back down and everything was ready to go.

"Richie, Eddie, Ben- just set them up how ever, it won't matter. I'll go grab some money, can you guys try taking them outside?" Mike asked, still slightly panting from rushing up and down the stairs.

"H-Here," Bill started, "S-Someone o-open th-the d-door, I'll g-get th-them t-to the b-barn."

Beverly opened the door for Bill as Mike rushed upstairs for the third time to get the money, Bill then pushed the two mattresses out the door slightly before looking at them in concentration for a moment, causing them to float in the air slightly.

"Holy fuck," Eddie breathed out, "I forgot you said you could do that."

Bill didn't reply, he was too focused on keeping the mattresses afloat- but the others just followed him to the barn, Ben carrying the airbeds and Eddie grabbed the blankets. Beverly and Stan waited by the swing tree, there wasn't much point in them going to the barn as they were leaving soon anyways. 

The barn was bigger than Eddie expected, it was huge and open- perfect for seven really. The floor was covered in hay and there were piles of hay bales in the corners. There were also beams every so often supporting the building and keeping it up, the outside was a dark red color but inside was was a dirty brown wood. It wasn't anything special, but it was miles better than their previous living state, and Eddie already loved it.

"I-I'm going t-to g-go then," Bill said, standing in the doorway and pointing outside slightly, "G-Good l-luck? I g-guess, I d-don't know."

Eddie laughed a little before waving bye to Bill, "Good luck to you too- seriously, try not to get caught by anyone."

"We w-won't."

"Goodbye, my wonderful Billiam. Have fun on your journey," Richie beemed as he started dragging one of the mattresses off the other.

"D-Don't c-call me B-B-Billiam," Bill stated, glaring at Richie in a joking way before leaving.

"Alright! Eds, Benny Boy- what's the plan?" Richie asked, clapping his hands together.

"We have a pump for the beds right?" Ben asked.

"Here," Eddie picked up the old pump off the pile of blankets, now getting covered in tiny pieces of hay.

"And how many beds are there?" Ben asked again.

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and... Eight!" Richie counted, "So more than enough- what do we do with the spare?"

"Not pump it up?" Eddie said, kicking one of the beds to the side.

"Good idea," Richie said before making a clicking sound with his mouth and giving yet another set of finger guns, this time to Eddie.

"There's also about a hundred blankets," Eddie carried on, ignoring Richie's stupidity, "so, we won't run out of those either."

"Cool, you want to count and divide up the blankets? Just make sure they're even?" Ben started, "I'll start pumping up the beds and Richie- move the mattresses?"

"Aye aye captain," Richie saluted at Ben before dramatically dragging one of the beds more to the middle of the barn.

It was pretty simple after that, Eddie figured Mike counted out the pillows as there was exactly fourteen- two each, and the blankets were pretty easy to sort out as well, some people got two larger ones and other people got three slightly smaller ones. The people with three probably got more surface area, but the two bigger ones were easy to bundle up in- so it was pretty even. After Richie had positioned the two mattresses and him and Eddie were able to neatly make them up with cushions and blankets, Ben had finished two of the airbeds, they were only single beds- so they didn't take long to pump up. The three of them easily finished the whole process within an hour and a half, and were all (mainly Ben) out of breath by the end of it. Eddie and Richie had both claimed the actual mattresses, they were dirty- which grossed Eddie out slightly, but they were the beds that got two big blankets, and Eddie wanted to be able to wrap himself up in them every night. 

"Eds," Richie said out of nowhere as the three of them are laying on their chosen beds.

"Yes?" Eddie replies, turning to look at Richie, who's bed is just to the left of his.

"Wanna go back to the swing?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"You coming Ben?" Richie offered, looking over to Ben who had claimed the bed furthest from the door.

"No thanks, I just want to relax for a little while."

"Okay cool," Richie paused for a second, "when the others get back if they come in here tell them me and Eds shotgunned these beds."

"Can you shotgun beds?" Ben asked, chuckling slightly at Richie.

"Yes. Now you can. Now, what are you waiting for Eds?"

And with that Eddie was being dragged up off his bed by Richie and the two of them were running to the swing- it was probably late afternoon/early evening by now, Eddie hadn't been able to look at a clock all day, but it was slightly cooler out now and he felt his legs chill up as he ran out the barn, but it was fine. After being on the swing for a while he'd either just warm up from the activity or talking to Richie would distract him from being cold.

 


	5. Top Ramen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO, SO, SO sorry for taking so long to update :''(  
> This took two days to write but there's been so much stuff happening at home (my dad's being a grade A asshole ayyy and my mom is just a mess rn) and my friends are being rly shitty atm so i've just been very lonely and sad recently (sorry again, i'll try to man up lmao)
> 
> ALSO!!
> 
> So, this sounds kind of weird but I love asking questions about my fics, basically I have the basic plan of this story done and about five detailed scenes written to slot in when needed (huge upcoming reddie moments ;) ) however, I'd love some mini-prompt type things, like just what people want to read, what characters people are enjoying and general ideas- if you have any feedback (general ideas or just thoughts on my fic/writing) then please comment or send me an ask/message me on tumblr (I changed my name from tozier-verse to tozieruniverse over there btw) :)
> 
> oh and one more thing  
> this is completely irrelevant to me and this story but  
> i've had zombie by the cranberries stuck in my head for like two weeks now and idk how i'm still alive

The Derry corner store was tiny, which was fitting considering Derry was a very small town. It had taken the group of four 25 minutes to get to the store, but that's only because Mike's house (or granddad's house) was just over a mile away from the rest of town. Once in town, however, getting anywhere wouldn't take much longer than ten minutes. There was a few roads littered with houses and an old gas station next to the small store, and by the looks of it there was a park as well, but Stan wasn't paying it too much attention. Once the group got in the store it was obvious they didn't have a lot to choose from, the store was tiny, made up of only 4 small isles and a freezer/fridge wrapping around two of the walls.

"How much money do we have Mike?" Beverly asked as she wandered into the store, looking at a clearance shelf littered with small bags of brownies and mini-cookies.

"Uhh..." Mike counted the money, running the bills through his fingers before saying, "About thirty bucks, we should be able to get something with that."

"W-What d-do we absolutely n-need?" Bill asked, also making his way into the empty store.

"Probably some bread, if they sell that," Stanley said, still standing next to Mike (who was counting the money once more, to double check), "and fruit. We need to be healthy."

"We can get some chocolate too though," Beverly said as she grabbed one of the bags of brownies, "these are only two bucks, we can get a couple of these?"

"If we have enough spare," Mike started, "I'm thinking we get bread and at least two sandwich fillers, something like spaghetti for dinners, fruits, cereal and then we can spend the rest on extras?"

"H-How about s-some of th-these?" Bill asked, holding up a small bag reading 'Top Ramen' to the group, "Th-They're really ch-cheap."

The group walked around the store hundreds of times, swapping out items, putting things back and constantly changing their minds- they didn't really know what they were doing, as none of them had to be this independent before, they were always served the same bland and slightly gone off food- they hardly knew what all the different flavors were, let alone how to pair things to make actual meals. They had to have been there at least an hour and Stan was getting increasingly fed up, he still didn't have a shirt, it felt like he had no input because it was just Bill and Beverly shouting about the foods they found and Mike either putting them in his basket or saying no, and even if he could get a word in he had no idea what he was doing anyways. He tried to help, he'd suggest a drink or some pasta but it was always declined- so after the first few attempts he gave up.

Eventually, the three managed to all agree on something. Apparently, the packets of noodles Bill suggested at the start were liked by all of them, as they decided on getting thirty packs. In the store there were oriental, beef, chicken, thai kitchen, chili and lime shrimp flavors- so they all settled on five of each pack- obviously. Cheerios and Froot Loops were the breakfast foods of choice, Stanley assumed they'd just have toast or eggs or something, but Beverly was adamant on cereal and no one had a real argument against it. Then there was the bread, cheese, ham and turkey for sandwiches, the milk because according to Mike every fridge needs milk, and two bags of brownies because Beverly refused to put them down. It was slightly stressful, and extremely boring- but they were finished and could now finally go back to the house.

Bill and Beverly were dominating the conversation on the way back, but Stan wasn't paying it too much attention. He was thinking; they still all needed clothes, especially him and Eddie- Eddie was stuck in tiny shorts and Stanley didn't have a shirt. They'd also probably need to get shampoo and soap, general washcloths and definitely tooth brushes- the basics would be at Mike's granddad's house, but not enough for all of them. Stan was so focused on thinking through a possible plan in his head he didn't notice Mike slowing down slightly so Stanley would catch up with him.

"Hi," Mike said, simply, smiling at Stan.

"Hi," Stan replied, still partially in thought.

"You okay?" Mike asked, before adding, "You seemed kind of distant earlier."

"I'm just thinking," Stan started to explain, "Like, we have food now- which is good. But we also need clothes, and shampoo, soap, towels, wash cloths and probably more. I'm sure the basics are at the house, but there's seven of us."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that stuff," Mike agreed, "You sure that's it though? You just weren't talking that much."

"I'm fine," Stan reassured.

The rest of the walk back to the house was relatively quiet, Bill and Beverly still occasionally chatting and Stanley and Mike hanging behind them slightly not saying anything. It didn't take them quite as long to get back, as they all now knew the way slightly better, and before they knew it they were back on the dirt track leading to the house. It was nice, Derry, it was quiet and peaceful. Fields stretching far and wide and trees hiding the path from the rest of the world. It was slightly overwhelming, and it felt so open and free not being in the lab anymore, Stan wasn't used to anything like it- at all. Sure, no one was given any freedom at the hellhole they came from, but Stan  _really_ hadn't had a good life (or a life at all) there, so suddenly just not being there- with six other people- and in complete freedom was slightly weird.

As the group got closer and closer to the house laughs and cheers that could only be Richie and Eddie surrounded them, "Are they still on that swing?" Beverly asked, looking at bill before turning to Mike and Stanley, an amused look on her face.

"Probably," Stan replied, wearing the same amused look.

"It's sweet," Mike said before pausing for a second, "It's weird how much they just clicked."

"W-What d-do you m-mean?" Bill asked, looking at Mike slightly confused.

"We've known each other a day and they just seem like they've always known each other, like they just really get along," Mike explained.

"They've been clingy too," Beverly pointed out, "Obviously Richie had to carry Eddie- but they slept together too didn't they? And have just generally been inseparable. It's cute, really."

"I-I n-never really n-noticed i-it," Bill said, but it looked like he was thinking about something.

"I wonder how Ben's doing, you think he's running around with them too?" Stan asked, looking over the group as they got closer and closer to the house.

"Probably not," Beverly stated, "Can you hear how loud they are from here? Imagine being with them."

It only took a few more moments for the four teens to arrive at the house, and unsurprisingly Richie was in the swing with Eddie in his lap, the two swinging around like crazy laughing with each other. Stan couldn't help but smile at the sight, it was cute really, the two of them just fully embracing being free and having the company of other people. There was no way Stan could ever be that carefree, ever. But watching Richie and Eddie completely let loose and enjoy themselves did make him weirdly more happy. It's like he couldn't help but reflect the two boys' moods.

"WE GOT FOOD!" Beverly wasted no time shouting, grabbing the two boys attention.

"W-Where's B-B-Ben?!" Bill quickly added, as Richie and Eddie slowed down on the swing and started to get up.

"He's having a nap in the barn!" Richie called back, now off the swing, "We set out all the beds and shit- me and Eds shotgunned the real mattresses!"

As the group made their way towards the house (and Eddie and Richie) Ben obviously heard all the commotion and came out the barn as well, and after a few minutes they were all back inside going over what they bought and what needed to happen. Once in the kitchen, Mike had emptied the contents of the shopping bags onto the island, which everyone was stood around.

"So, that's it. Meals will be repetitive, but our budget wasn't the greatest," Mike explained to Richie, Eddie and Ben- who were examining the Ramen noodles.

"What are these then?" Eddie asked, reading one of the oriental packs.

"They're just pasta," Mike carried on explaining, "they're insanely cheap and taste good."

"So we got thirty packs," Stanley added, earning a small chuckle from Eddie.

"What's the plan now then?" Ben asked, also holding a couple packets of Ramen, "Obviously we need more than just food."

"You said there's a city near here, right?" Richie asked, looking to Mike for even more answers.

"Yeah- it's only about a 40 minute walk, we should probably go relatively soon. Not today, but still."

"W-We could g-go t-t-tomorrow?" Bill suggested, "W-We aren't d-doing anything else, a-and s-s-some new c-c-clothes w-wouldn't h-hurt."

"And soap, wash cloths, towels, clean blankets?" Stanley listed, "No offence Mike- this place is great, but..." he didn't finish the sentence, partially not knowing how but he mainly didn't want to offend Mike in any way.

"Tomorrow works," Richie agreed, "We need to get Eds here some warmer clothes A-S-A-P!" the lanky boy cheered as he threw an arm over Eddie.

"Richie-" Eddie was cut off, making an 'umph' sound from Richie's lanky arm suddenly on him, "Get your arm off me. And don't call me Eds!"

Richie listened and removed his arm before saying, "Seriously though- the sooner we go the better."

"Tomorrow then?" Stanley asked, looking over the group.

"Tomorrow," Beverly agreed, "We'll have to be careful though- we have no clue where the guards could be."

"How do you know they're still looking for us?" Eddie asked with a false sense of hope on his face.

"They will be," Ben pointed out, "and we'll have to be insanely careful- stick together."

"O-Or a-at l-least in p-p-pairs," Bill suggested.

"Anything besides being alone," as Beverly said it, it felt like the conversation had come to a close. That was all that needed to be said, and they now knew what was happening. They were going to the city tomorrow- to get clothes and shampoo and probably more Ramen. Stanley was excited, sure. But also insanely terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was short, it was mainly just to feed into the next chapter.  
> The past couple of days have just been a bit rough, but I'll try to update as often as possible!! <3


	6. Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (btw I'm trying to set this in the 80s,, idk if I'm succeeding in that but y'know)
> 
> And again, sorry for the delayed post!! I really wanted this chapter to be longer and be written really well as it contains one of the scenes I had pre-written (although I ended up re-writing it about 100 times so it actually fit anyways)

Ben woke up in his bed, he chose the one furthest from the door the day before for no particular reason, it didn't really matter anyways- unless you were Richie, in which case the bed you had was  _extremely_ important. Beverly had found out the hard way when she sat on the mattress between Eddie's and the barn door, Richie wasn't aggressive or actually angry, just made it very clear to Beverly and everyone else that  _"You can't just steal someone's bed! Especially when it's shotgunned!"_ Beverly had tried to point out that shotgunning beds wasn't a thing, but it was pointless really. She had ended up taking the mattress between Mike and Bill, then Bill was next to Ben, and Stan was between Mike and Eddie. The beds were set out in a line, not significantly far away from one another, but they had enough space. Ben, Richie and Eddie had decided the day before that it made sense to just line them up in the left side of the barn, it meant that there were still two empty 'thirds' that could be used for other things, like storage or if they got a rug or blanket or something. They'd probably be here for a while, and in that time Ben was planning on making the place look a lot better. Maybe a seating area (if they could afford something to sit on?) and they'd have to get a couple board games or books or something, the only form of entertainment they had at the moment was the tiny television in the kitchen and the swing that was pretty much permanently occupied by Richie and Eddie.

"Ben?" a whisper came from across the room, "You up?"

As he sat up, Ben saw Beverly propped up on her elbows, looking at him over a still sleeping Bill, "Yes?" he whispered back as he rubbed his eyes slightly.

"Do you know what time it is?" she asked, her whisper breaking slightly at the end.

"No," Ben paused for a second, "We should get a clock for in here."

"And some decorations," Beverly added, barely even trying to whisper quietly.

"A lamp or two would be useful too," Ben was now glancing around the barn, the only things inside were the beds and the piles of hay in the corners and covering the floor.

"I can't wait to do something with this place," Beverly said, grinning, as she looked around the huge space with Ben.

"Me too," the boy agreed, "I love design and stuff."

"We should do it together!" Beverly was obviously excited at the idea, as her voice got a lot louder, also earning a low groan from Stan across the room.

" _Shhh_ ," Ben glared at Beverly, knowing that everyone needed as much sleep as possible (especially Stanley), "but yes, we could all do it to be fair."

"Do you think we could paint it? And get pictures or something?! Ben! We could get a camera or something!" Beverly was getting louder and louder in her excitement and visions, and Ben felt himself also get excited at the ideas; a photo wall with pictures of all of them? The walls painted with little designs and splashes from them all? The seating area of blankets and pillows he envisioned earlier surrounded by photos of them?

"Depends on what Mike says, it's his granddad's place after all," Ben let his logical side speak, not the creative/desperate to decorate the bland barn side.

"Oh yeah," Beverly sighed a little, "and we probably don't have that much money."

"That too," Ben agreed.

It wasn't long before the others started to wake up, Mike was the first one besides Ben and Beverly, letting out a low  _hmmm_ sounding groan as he stretched his arms up. Once he was sat up and rubbing at his eyes, Stanley woke up in a similar manner next to Mike. After him was Richie and then Bill, leaving only Eddie still curled up asleep- despite everyone talking now. Mike had agreed that they should try to decorate the barn when Beverly brought it up, apparently his granddad had plenty of money as his farm sold crops to many of the nearby towns, and he also helped run a few other farms. However, Mike didn't know if painting would be a good idea, although his granddad is out a lot when he did come home the barn was used and (obviously) very much needed. Mike also didn't know if they'd stay in the barn for too long, apparently he was hoping his granddad would get back sooner rather than later so they could potentially move into the house.

"We can still decorate though," Beverly pointed out, "me and Ben would be great at it."

"Obviously," Mike agreed, "I don't know how long we'll be in here though... We could always paint on paper or canvases though and hang them up?"

Beverly's face very visibly lit up as she clapped her hands quietly, aware of Eddie still sleeping, "Then we could swap them out and rearrange them? And we could all paint pictures together! Mike! That's perfect!"

"Wh-What would w-we paint th-though?" Bill asked.

"Dicks," Richie replied, laughing at his attempt to be funny. Beverly also laughed a little, Stan just glared at Richie.

"No," Mike said rather seriously, "just... Nice pictures, I don't know."

"We're going to the city today though, aren't we?" Ben started, "If we have enough money we could get some stuff today? We need something to do."

Before anyone could reply there was another loud groan, this time from next to Richie, and as Ben looked over he saw Eddie rolling over so his face was in the pillow before curling himself up tighter and letting out a loud sigh.

"Mornin' sunshine," Richie said smiling down at Eddie.

A muffled "Fuh off," came from Eddie in response as he remained face planting the pillow. Everyone just watched Eddie slightly for a second or two, waiting to see if he'd sit up or at least turn around and join in the conversation, or if he would try to go back to sleep. Surprisingly, after a minute or two Eddie rolled back over before throwing his hands over his eyes and rubbing at them with the balls of his hands. 

"Finally awake?" Richie asked again, flashing Eddie the same grin.

Eddie just groaned and sat up, knees pulled to his chest and blanket completely wrapped around him, resting over his head like a hood.

"Breakfast then?" Beverly asked, looking between everyone.

"May as well," Stan replied, "You awake Eddie?"

Eddie just groaned again in response, staring at nothing in particular and still looking half asleep.

"We should probably head to the city relatively quickly after," Mike suggested, "So we have plenty of time."

"W-We d-definitely know h-how t-to get th-there?" Bill asked.

"It's just walking in one direction for about forty minutes, we should be fine," Mike replied.

"Let's go get breakfast then," Ben suggested, "we can plan our day while eating if need be."

Beverly was the first stood up, she practically jumped to her feet after it was decided they'd get breakfast. Ben, Bill and Mike all followed quickly after and then after a few more seconds Richie and Stan were also on their feet, all of them making their way to the door. Eddie was once again the last to get moving, they were all stood at the door waiting as the short boy stood up, blanket and all. By the time Mike had opened the door, Eddie had made his way over to them, "The grass'll be wet Eddie," Mike said, Ben looked outside and the grass outside did have a glossy look to it, "So, maybe pick the blanket up?"

Eddie looked like he was about to gather more of the blanket in his hands so it would raise to his ankles rather than dragging across the floor, however, before he got the chance Richie took it upon himself to grab Eddie into his arms and hold him bridal style- earning a small scream from the blanket engulfed boy, "Richie! Put me down!"

"No can do Eds, we got to keep the blanket dry."

Eddie groaned for the fifth time that morning, but allowed Richie to keep on carrying him nonetheless. It was a sweet sight really. Eddie, who was obviously still tired, let himself curl up into Richie's arms, even burying his head in one of Richie's shoulders, as Richie wore a semi-proud but semi-in-awe smile. Ben always liked small gestures like that, although he'd never had a life outside the lab, he was allowed a few books while he lived there. Many of them were older romance novels, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a sucker for cute interactions like hand holding and sweet kisses on the hand or cheek.

Once inside Beverly and Mike were straight to the cabinets, Beverly going to get the cereal and Mike getting spoons and bowels. Ben sat himself next to Bill at the breakfast bar and Stanley sat on one of the couches, Richie claimed the other for him and Eddie- falling backwards so he was laying on his back, earning another shriek from Eddie in the process (who was still bundled in his blanket, and now Richie's arms.)

"What does everyone want?" Beverly asked, looking between everyone, "Froot loops or Honey Nut Cheerios?"

Stanley, Mike and Bill all chose the cheerios, whereas Ben as well as Richie, Eddie and Beverly chose Froot Loops. They also all had milk with their cereal of choice, except Eddie, who instead opted to eat them dry because it would be easier to eat them that way and remain in his blanket and Richie's lap. Breakfast was finished relatively quickly, and it was easily the best breakfast Ben had ever had. Normally he'd be given some cold, chunky porridge type substance, it was bland, had no flavor and somehow the worst consistency imaginable. But, it got to the point where Ben was too hungry to refuse the meals he was given, so he'd just have to eat it and hope one day the food budget would go up. 

* * *

It didn't take long at all to work out a plan, which Beverly was grateful for. After breakfast, Ben would clean the dishes whilst Mike and Stan went to find a hoodie or shirt for Stan, and Richie and Eddie would take the blanket Eddie was huddled under back to the barn. Mike also directed Bill and Beverly to where his granddad kept his cash in three large jars upstairs and instructed them to put a reasonable amount in an old rucksack he found in a closet somewhere. Bill and Beverly didn't want to be greedy, but at the same time they needed enough money for new clothes, hygiene products, something for them to do and possibly more food. Luckily, the jars of notes easily had thousands in them (probably built up over a very long time, which made Beverly feel slightly bad) so her and Bill were able to grab ten $20 bills and a couple $10 bills, if they didn't need all of it they could just put it back.

It didn't take long for everyone to be ready, Stanley now in a hideous knitted sweater that was probably Mike's granddad's, and Eddie shivering without his blanket. The walk into the city was a long and boring one, it was similar to the walk through the forest area and to Mike's Granddad's barn a few days ago, except this time they were walking single file along a road that gradually got bigger and bigger the closer they got. They spoke more this walk too, they still didn't know too much about each other, but Beverly knew that Ben could turn invisible and had similar mind powers to her, Bill made force fields and could move objects telepathically, Eddie set fires, Richie could control the weather- or something like that? Mike was able to heal Stan's wrists and control plants, and Stan could grow wings on command and both run and fly insanely quickly. She also knew that Ben, similarly to her, really wanted to do something with the barn, Mike had some granddad somewhere that could show up at any time, and everyone really liked ramen noodles. 

They walked along what quickly became a highway for what easily could've been hours in a constant and comfortable chat when they reached a huge bridge, it stretched over a river that looked like it could be miles wide. The river was a slight brown color and was extremely murky, but it didn't stop the seven of them running up to the wall/fence blocking off access to the steep dirt slope leading down to it. They were still very close to the busy road, and it quickly became clear that the only way into the city was to walk across the dangerous and busy bridge with all of the speeding cars. It looked like there was just enough space for them to walk on, it clearly wasn't meant to be a sidewalk- but could work as a path of sorts.

"We can't walk across that thing," Eddie stated, clearly adamant on his view.

"We have to," Beverly replied, "The only way we're getting the necessary things is to get into the city- and that's the only way in."

"Do you know how dangerous that is?" Eddie looked at Beverly in complete disbelief, and Beverly couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Yes, but we can't just stay in Derry- we need clothes and basic things to stay clean. And plenty of other things," Beverly would list everything, but the group had done that plenty of times on the way to the bridge.

"I'm not crossing that thing," Eddie stated once again, "I'll wait here if need be."

"E-E-Eddie, no," Bill started, "We'll b-be fine, okay? N-No c-cars would h-hit u-us."

"On purpose," Eddie was quick to add.

"Eds it'll be fine," Richie said as he leaned over the wall to look at the water a bit too far for Beverly's liking.

"No it won't!" Eddie stomped his foot slightly, "Stanley! Ben! Mike! Tell them they're wrong," he pleaded.

"We have to," Mike said it slightly less certain than Beverly had, but he understood that in reality they really had to cross the bridge.

"I'd fly us over," Stanley started, "but we both now I can't just do that in this busy of a place."

"Fly under the bridge," Ben suggested.

"What do you mean?" Stanley looked at Ben with a raised eyebrow and confused expression.

"I mean you and Eddie could climb over the wall and you could fly just under the bridge if possible, there aren't any boats and no one would really be able to see you," Ben explained.

"Only if you could though," Eddie still looked nervous, "and want to."

"I mean I probably could," Stan said as he looked over the water and at the bridge, "I could only carry Eddie though."

"Fine by me," Beverly chimed, smiling at the group.

"Y-Yeah," Bill agreed, "Anyone else h-have a p-problem w-with the b-b-b-b"

"Bridge," Mike finished for Bill.

"Y-Yeah, th-thanks."

* * *

As everyone made their way back over to the road to head over the bridge, Eddie and Stanley awkwardly tried to climb over the wall. Considering the wall was put there to stop people climbing over it was extremely difficult, Stanley would've just flown them over but showing his wings in front of the main road was too risky, so was climbing the wall, but if someone questioned them on climbing the wall they could use the "We're just stupid teenagers" argument, they couldn't exactly say that about a huge blue and green pair of wings coming out Stan's back. Once they finally made it over and onto the dirt slope, the other five could be seen about halfway across the bridge already, with the occasional car honking as they passed them.

"Okay," Stanley started, "No one should see us from here, I'm going to take my sweater off and you'll have to hold onto it as I carry you."

"How are you carrying me? Like Richie does?"

"I was thinking you could hug me, like a koala. Wrap your arms around my neck and then jump so your legs are around my waist, I can then hold onto you around your back as I fly, that sound okay?"

"Yeah- you'll definitely be able to make it?" Eddie trusted Stanley fully, but he was still nervous- and wanted to make sure he was definitely safe.

"Yes," Stanley reassured, "Here test to see if I can carry you now before we go."

Eddie followed Stan's instructions, the first few attempts he couldn't jump high enough to wrap his legs around Stan's waist, and then as soon as he could jump high enough he lost his grip after a few seconds. However, after a few more attempts they were able to do the small routine relatively well, and both boys were happy for Stanley to go.

"Ready?" Stan asked, his wings had come out of him so quickly Eddie didn't even see them move, it was like they literally came out of nowhere.

"Yep," Eddie mumbled. He was nervous, of course, but this was better than walking across the bridge.

Eddie jumped into Stanley's arms for the tenth or eleventh time, and Stanley was able to tightly grip around Eddie, his sweater now between the two boys' chests. Stanley didn't warn Eddie that he when he was going to fly, he just jumped and before Eddie could even register what was happening they were flying. Eddie shoved his face into Stanley, refusing to look down out of fear, as he gripped tighter onto the flying boy. Stanley, obviously, was keeping very close to the bottom of the bridge, which only terrified Eddie more. About half way across he realized it was probably scarier than walking across the bridge, but he couldn't have asked Stan to stop and turn around at that point, they were already half way and the two of them walking along the busy road would be far more dangerous than a group of seven.

After a few minutes that felt like hours to Eddie, they were on the other dirt slope. Stanley wasn't the best at landing- they both crashed into the ground in a sightly painful way as Stan lost his footing, but they were able to recover quickly and make their way to where the others would soon be. After walking up the hill and climbing over the wall that was similar to the first one, the other five were just at the end of the bridge.

"You made it!" Beverly cheered, looking at the two. Eddie most definitely looked completely in shock from the whole experience, and Stanley was putting his sweater on like it was nothing.

"Eds! Stan the Man!" Richie cheered moments after Beverly.

"Don't call me that," Eddie and Stan said in unison at Richie, earning a laugh from Ben and Beverly.

Eddie looked up to see the city for the first time, and it was beautiful. From where they were stood they could see into it perfectly, the road led into a maze of tall buildings and crowded streets. Eddie had never seen anything like it, cars, trucks and yellow taxis all honking and blaring at each other, children clinging onto their parents hands or running freely a few steps ahead shouting happily, lines of business men in long coats all holding briefcases marching as if they were soldiers. It was so overwhelming and beautiful Eddie and the others couldn't help but stare. Every building either had huge letters above of the equally huge spinning doors or a sign sticking out above the sidewalks, screaming at people to go in with lights and bold letters. Everything was so big and free, even the food carts being pushed around or parked on corners had huge bunches of people, hungry for a burger or hot dog or a freshly cooked pretzel. Eddie was already in love with the place, and by the similar expressions on everyone else's faces he assumed they were too.

"This place is insane," Beverly barely whispered.

"It's beautiful," Ben agreed.

"Can we go in?" Eddie asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet slightly in anticipation.

"Hell yeah," Richie replied, taking lead as he started walking closer to the first buildings.

"What should we try to buy first?" Mike asked, "Or should we just walk until we find a store with something in it?"

"I say we just wander around slightly," Ben suggested, "without getting lost."

"I used to come here a lot," Mike started, "I should know the basics- is anyone good with memory though?"

A chorus of shrugs and ' _I don't know_ 's came in response, they'd be fine though. They'd just have to remember the store names and signs, and then follow them back to get to the bridge.

They walked into the crowded city in near silence, all of them still in awe and clueless on what to say. The buildings towered over the group and the people swarmed around them, causing Eddie to subconsciously grab onto Richie's arm, so he wouldn't get separated from everyone else. Thankfully, Richie didn't seem to mind as he let Eddie grip his forearm as tightly and for as long as Eddie felt necessary. As they got further and further into the maze, it surprisingly became less crowded and busy. It seemed like the biggest stores were near where they entered, and although there were still huge signs and smaller crowds, the further in they got the less busy it became. After not too long the group stumbled across one building, similarly to the others it was practically touching the buildings either side of it, but it caught Eddie's eye. Sticking out the side of the building was a huge yellow 'M' with 'McDonald's Burgers' written underneath it. Inside was covered in brown tiles and was seemed like thousands of seats and tables lining the walls and filling the room.

"What's that?" Eddie asked, looking up at the huge 'M'

"McDonald's," Richie replied, "God, I've missed McDonald's."

"It's a restaurant," Mike added, "cheap too."

"They don't do vegetarian though, do they?" Stanley asked, now also looking through the window from where they were stood.

"I normally just get the apple pie and some french fries," Mike replied.

"You're a vegetarian?" Stan asked, looking at Mike confused.

"Yeah, always have been. The apple pies are good, by the way."

"S-So are w-we eating h-here?" Bill asked.

"It's the afternoon, and I'm kind of hungry," Beverly pointed out.

"Me too," Ben agreed, "and if it's cheap too- like Mike said, it would be good."

"Lets go!" Eddie was probably slightly too excited, it wasn't his fault though. Everything was so new to him, it was all so weird and he wanted to try all these foods and go into every store possible. It felt good, being completely free.

Mike wasn't lying when he said it was cheap, Eddie was able to get a 'Big Mac' (which Mike explained to him was just a really big burger- which was a beef patty on some bread with other toppings) for 75 cents and some fries for 45 cents. Richie, Bill and Ben all also got the big mac and fries, Beverly chose a filet-o-fish and fries, and then Mike and Stanley both got the apple pie like Mike suggested. Their food as well as a drink each only cost them just under ten dollars, which was apparently really good as Mike was happy with the price. When eating they took up two of the booths in the fairly large restaurant, Eddie sat next to Bill and opposite Richie, who was next to Ben. Stanley and Beverly were behind him and Bill, facing Mike. It was nice, and felt normal almost. Eddie still didn't understand the world that well, only really being in it for a few days- but this already felt better. Him and his six new friends, in matching beige suits, sitting in McDonald's eating the best meal Eddie had ever had. Everyone else seemed to agree too, the burgers were inhaled in minutes and the fries didn't last much longer than that.

After McDonald's the group carried walking around the city, they went into a few stores buying a few necessary things; they all got a toothbrush, and some soap and shampoo. Richie found a horrendous Hawaiian shirt in a store and Bill got himself some equally awful jorts at the same place. Ben and Mike both got a t-shirt a few stores later, and then they ran into another more general supermarket where they got more Top Ramen and some fruit. It was a good day, Beverly, Eddie and Stan still hadn't gotten anything new to wear, but they weren't in any rush to get back to the barn. It was still light out, probably getting to late afternoon. Then, all at once, everything managed to turn to shit.

"Fuck!" Beverly whisper-shouted under her breath, "Guys! Get down!"

"What?" Ben asked, looking around for somewhere to 'get down' to and for whatever Beverly was talking about.

"ShitShitShitShitShit," Richie rambled, sounding more like one word than a chorus of the same one- clearly seeing what Beverly saw.

"Wh-What i-i-is i-it?" Bill asked, looking around in a similar way to Ben.

When Eddie saw what Beverly meant, it was too late. The man in the familiar guard uniform, holding a walkie talkie and clump of papers made eye contact with him, and was instantly saying something on his radio.

"Guys! He saw us!" Eddie cried, grabbing onto Richie's arm again, this time out of fear of the guard, not getting lost.

"Who?!" Bill asked again.

"THE GUARD!" Beverly shouted far too loudly, grabbing the man's attention again, who was now with another man Eddie slightly recognized.

"RUN!" Richie shouted, shaking Eddie's arm off him before grabbing Eddie's instead and running in the opposite direction to the man, quickly followed by the others.

"Where do we go?" Ben sounded as worried as Eddie felt.

"Just run," Beverly said with an equally worried tone, "we'll get back to the barn- don't let them follow us there!"

They hadn't made their way too far into the city, so getting in view of the bridge wasn't impossible. It was tense and extremely scary, but possible. The problem was then running through the crowds, and now slightly darker streets- with significantly less energy. Beverly was constantly offering a cheer of  _'we can do this!"_ and _"let's go!"_ or more directly _, 'RUN BITCHES!'_ There were more guards now, instead of the two original ones by themselves there was about three or four pairs of them and they were getting closer to the group. They kept running though, determined to get away.

They were almost at the end of the road and to the bridge when Richie suddenly stumbled over- the crowds of people managing to separate him from the group. He had let go of Eddie a few minutes prior and was now desperately trying to get back to them, but the people around them were either oblivious or just didn't care, the more Richie shouted out their names the further away he seemed to be. Beverly, Bill and Ben hadn't seemed to notice, still trying to shove their way through people, Stanley and Mike, who were still moving, kept looking behind them, aware of Richie now being separated. Eddie was completely frozen, frantically looking around for a way to Richie as the guards got closer and closer. Without even thinking he just threw himself through the group of people, with much more force than Richie had been using, an echo of  _'get out the way'_ and  _'excuse you'_ came his way, but Eddie couldn't give less of a shit, he just grabbed onto Richie's arm and ran. They weren't heading towards the bridge anymore, Eddie didn't have the time to plan out the direction, he just ran.

Before either of them realized what was going on Eddie was dragging the two of them into a huge store, lined with various stations selling makeup products. Next to the door was a huge sign telling customers what was on each of the eight floors, but there wasn't anytime to read through it. Another thing that was instantly apparent as they ran into the store was the blaring music around them, it wasn't a bad song or anything, just slightly distracting.

_Sweet dreams are made of this, Who am I to disagree?_

Eddie tried to ignore the song as he carried on dragging a clearly tired Richie into the store, being closely followed by at least two of the men. The makeup counters went on forever, various brands selling the same thing in different packaging, each stand surrounded by girls and women of all ages, smudging it on their hands and asking the uniformed girls questions about any and every product.

_I travel the world_ _and the seven seas,_ _Everybody's looking for something._

Once they were past the repetitive makeup stalls the two boys were surrounded by plates and pots and other things from the typical kitchen, which was an interesting shift, "Eds," Richie said, very clearly out of breath, "Where do we go?" Eddie had no clue where they were going or how they'd get out of here, but he knew they would. He wouldn't let them be stolen and taken back to that place, go back to the constant torture and experiments. He'd never be able to speak to Richie, or the others, again- and they'd definitely up the security a lot, "I don't know..." Eddie breathed out as he moved his hand from Richie's arm to his hand, "We have to run."

_Some of them want to use you,_

 

Richie didn't hesitate to squeeze Eddie's hand in a reassuring way before looking back, "Shit- they're close," he took one more breath and then the two were running again, praying their friends were in a better situation than them currently.

 

_Some of them want to get used by you,_

 

Running through the kitchen section was relatively easy, the isles were simple and lined in a far less confusing way compared to the makeup stands, the only problem was they couldn't see any of the surrounding area- and were stuck hoping they wouldn't bump into anyone they didn't want to.

  
_Some of them want to abuse you,_

 

Once they made their way through the final fork and knives isle the two boys were met with an escalator, "What's that?" Eddie asked, feeling slightly stupid for constantly having to ask what various things were.

"Escalator- live a moving staircase. Lets go."

  
_Some of them want to be abused._

 

Richie was getting significantly more tired now, expectantly. Eddie didn't know how, but somehow he still had some energy, whether it was pure adrenaline or he just had insanely good stamina he didn't know, but he was glad he was able to maintain their quick pace over to the moving staircase.

 

_Sweet dreams are made of this, Who am I to disagree?_

 

The escalator meant they could see over the floor they were just on perfectly, there were a few guards still searching through the kitchen appliances, as well as a few in the makeup section- there were definitely far more outside too, hopefully the others were well hidden or very quick. At least that way if Eddie and Richie were taken back, their friends would still be safe.

 

_I travel the world and the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something._

 

The second floor was covered in various women's clothing racks, bras and lingerie on the far left and dresses and work blouses on the far right, casual and workout wear blending through the center. Richie and Eddie didn't even think before speeding off again, dodging through any and every isle so if anyone was close behind them, which was likely, the two boys could hopefully lose whoever it was.

 

_Hold your head up  
Keep your head up, movin' on_

 

After a few more minutes they had made their way to the next escalator, "Keep going up?" Eddie asked, noticing how out of breath he really was.

"We've got to," Richie replied, "It's the only way... We'll work out our next move when it comes to it..." he paused for a second, "We're getting out of here though. I promise... I'm not letting them take you."

"I'm not letting them take you either," Eddie said, allowing himself to smile at Richie slightly as he caught his breath for a second, before running up the next set of moving stairs, dragging Richie with him.

 

_Hold your head up, movin' on_  
Keep your head up, movin' on  
Hold your head up  
Keep your head up, movin' on  
Hold your head up, movin' on  
Keep your head up, movin' on

 

The next floor was men's wear, and it had a similar layout to the women's floor- underwear, casual, exercise, business. Looking over everything Eddie suddenly had an idea, "Richie- quick!" Eddie didn't explain it, knowing they didn't have time. He instead just dragged Richie over to the casual wear, their hands still tightly clasped together. When they got to a line of hoodies and sweaters- all of which were horrible clashes of color- Eddie halted to a stop.

 

"What are we doing?" Richie quizzed, clearly unsure on whatever Eddie was doing.

 

"Quick- change into something. They might not recognize us," Eddie instructed, grabbing a particularity ugly sweater split into four quarters, one each a primary color and the last square-of-sorts being black, "Hurry up."

 

Richie listened and grabbed his own hoodie, even pulling the hood up to hide himself that slight bit more, "Lets get out of this bitch Eds." 

 

_Some of them want to use you,_   
_Some of them want to get used by you,_

 

Eddie grabbed for Richie's hand again, not wanting to lose him in the huge store, and they started running again, as they ran towards the underwear side of the floor Eddie could hear a "THERE!" from behind him, proving that their disguises hadn't worked as well as Eddie hoped- or at all really. As the loud footsteps were heard getting closer and closer Eddie gripped Richie with his now clammy hand even tighter.

 

"Eddie! Here!" Richie took the lead, speeding ahead of Eddie slightly but still pulling Eddie behind him. He took a sharp turn behind some mannequins before stopping, only to start violently pushing on a button built into the wall. Eddie, like most other things in the city, didn't know what it was, but clung onto Richie's arm anyways- waiting for whatever it was.

 

_Some of them want to abuse you,  
Some of them want to be abused._ 

 

After a few moments of Richie constantly smashing the button with two fingers, and guards getting closer and closer- two doors Eddie didn't even notice were built into the wall were opening up to reveal a small box, it had a mirror wrapped around it and a rail to hold onto, "Richie what are we doing?" Eddie said, looking behind him where the guards were close behind them now, and he was getting pretty close to tears.

 

"Just trust me, okay?" Richie said, looking to Eddie with sincerity before pulling him into the box and slamming on another button, closing the two doors- only just locking the men out.

 

_Sweet dreams are made of this, Who am I to disagree?_   
_I travel the world and the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something._

 

The doors were opening as soon as they closed, and Eddie recognized the floor as being the original makeup and kitchen appliances filled sections. From the looks of it there were no guards too close, but they couldn't be sure. The doors were about half open when Eddie looked up to Richie, tears threatening to spill out his eyes, as he squeezed Richie's hand- wanting to say something, yet having no words to say. Richie looked down to Eddie before returning the squeeze, and by the looks of it his tears hadn't been as kind. His eyes were slightly red and his cheeks damp and flushed, but it was fine. They were getting out of this place.

 

_Sweet dreams are made of this, Who am I to disagree?_

 

Neither boy had to say anything as the doors finally opened, they both just ran faster than either of them ever had. Past the pots, plates, bowels, knives and forks. Past the few pillars with arrows pointing customers around the store. Past the seemingly hundreds of makeup stalls- each one they passed the exit looking closer and closer yet it always just being too far.

 

_I travel the world and the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something._

 

They made it out into the street and the sudden rush of cold hit them instantly, despite still being in the now stolen hoodies. There weren't any guards outside, or at least ones that were in sight. But that didn't mean the two boys were safe; they had to find their friends or get back to the barn without the men following them- preferably both.

 

"Lets go to the bridge," Richie stated- still heavily panting.

 

"How long were we in there?" Eddie asked, looking back and still seeing no guards.

 

"Couldn't have been too long- the others won't be too far," Richie paused for a second before turning to look at Eddie, "Thanks by the way."

 

"What?"

 

"You could have easily ran off with the others, I'm the one that got separated."

 

"You're an idiot if you think I would have left you," Eddie said smiling up at the taller boy, "but we should probably get going."

 

The two boys carried on running, despite both now being insanely tired. Thankfully, due to the still very crowded streets they could move slightly slower as staying hidden was generally a lot easier, and it wasn't long before the bridge was in view. Eddie couldn't help but speed up at the sight of it, pure excitement rushing through him at the thought of seeing everyone else. Obviously, he was well aware they could've headed off- but he was telling himself they hadn't to make himself feel slightly better. Once they got to where the bridge was in sight, their friends weren't- and Eddie realized him and Richie would probably be getting back by themselves, hopefully to meet the others there. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for when him and Richie started to walk over the bridge feel himself get tugged to the side by someone, "RICHIE!" the boy screamed out of instinct as he wrapped both his arms around Richie, causing Richie to be pulled back with him.

 

Eddie opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them, face to face with Beverly- who was hiding with the others just under the bridge, she had pulled him through a hole in the fence they either didn't see earlier or the others just made, "Thank fuck you're safe," the redhead muttered, "What happened?"

 

"I don't know," Eddie answered truthfully, sitting up slightly.

 

"Well, we're all here now," Mike reassured.

 

"We just have to get back- we can't go yet though," Ben added.

 

"Why not? I'm fucking terrified out here," Richie said, still clutching Eddie's hand.

 

"We can't have them follow us," Beverly pointed out, "We'll wait here for a while- until we can be sure it's safe."


	7. Just Breath

"So, what did we actually get?" Beverly asked, glancing around the group. It had been a few hours since Richie and Eddie had reunited with the group, and they only just got in the house and sat down; Richie and Eddie huddled closely together as usual on one couch, Bill and Ben sat on the floor with the few bags of purchases, Stan and Mike taking up the other couch, and Beverly was stood up looking over the six of them.

"H-H-Here," Bill said, dumping out the contents of one of the bags, Ben following with one of the others.

They hadn't bought nearly as much as they had planned to, meaning they'd have to go back- which was extremely risky and dangerous. Richie, Bill, Mike and Ben had all gotten at least one item of clothing, and then Richie and Eddie ended up stealing two hoodies from the store they ran into- so that means that Stanley could take one of those instead of the one Mike lent him, and everyone at least had something- except Beverly, but she didn't really mind. They also all managed to get a toothbrush, and some shampoo, soap and wash cloths. They also got a bit more food, the stores in the city, unsurprisingly, had a lot more selection- which was good.

"Not too bad," Beverly thought out loud, "At least we can all shower now."

"And eat healthier," Ben said as he picked up an apple.

"W-We'll have t-to go b-back th-though," Bill pointed out, obviously not wanting to lower the mood, but still stating what they all knew, "Th-There's n-no w-way w-we can j-just shop i-in D-D-Derry."

"No," Eddie was quick to disagree, "No, no, no, no,  _no._ "

"Eddie-" Stanley tried to say, before getting cut off.

"They're looking for us! We can't just go back there- we may as well walk back to the lab ourselves."

"Eds," Richie rubbed Eddie's arm in a comforting way, "We'll be fine- we won't let them get us."

"And Bill's right Eddie," Stanley added, "We can't hide in Derry forever, we can't buy everything here, and we can't just stay in one place."

"We were almost caught," Eddie argued, he sounded desperate at this point, "What if me and Richie didn't get out of that store?"

"But we did Eds," Richie again tried to reassure.

"Eddie," Beverly cut in, "We'll be better prepared next time- and we're strong, all of us. We can beat them... We will beat them."

"Beat them?" Mike asked, sounding slightly concerned from where he was sat next to Stanley, "Since when was this some fight or war?"

"Exactly," Eddie agreed.

"I'm with light bulb over there- let's kick their asses," Richie enthusiastically cheered from the couch, earning a glare from Eddie.

"Light bulb?" Beverly questioned, raising an eyebrow at the lanky boy.

"Yeah- you're electric and shit. Light bulb," Richie paused for a second before pointing at Mike, "Flower-Power," then Stanley, "Bird Boy," Eddie, "Fire Cracker," Ben, "Slimer," and finally Bill, "Witchcraft."

"Slimer?" Ben asked.

"From Ghostbusters," Richie replied, "You're like a ghost- Slimer."

"Those are all awful," Stanley pointed out, "Although, it is better than No-Shirt."

"You love it,  _Bird Boy,_ " a slight smirk made it's way onto Richie's face, before he jokingly stuck his tongue out at Stanley, who just sighed at the glasses wearing boy.

The group carried on talking for a while, they did stop talking about the city though. Beverly knew they'd have to go again- there was no way around it. Even if they could buy anything and everything in this tiny town, it would be impractical and boring to stay in the same place for so long. Sure, they'd have to plan their outing better next time, and be more aware of the risks- but they'd have to go back eventually. Maybe only a couple of them could go at a time- that way they could hide easier if they saw a guard and running would be a lot quicker with only a couple of people. There were other possibilities too, they could easily use their powers- although who knows how the outside world would react to that, or they could all go together but separate throughout various parts- again making them harder to track own. They would work it out- whatever their plan was- at a later date, but they'd definitely be able to work out something.

"I'm going to shower," Eddie said from next to Richie, "If that's okay with everyone?"

"We should probably all shower," Stanley pointed out, "It's been a few days since we fled the lab."

"And we didn't exactly get to wash much when we were there," Ben added.

"There's two bathrooms here," Mike offered, "One upstairs with a bath and shower, and then one downstairs with just a shower- so, two of us can shower at a time."

"Who else wants to go first then?" Beverly asked, looking down at the group as she was still stood above them.

"Can I?" Stanley asked, "I rarely got to shower ever, I feel disgusting."

"Okay," Beverly agreed, "then who? We should definitely all shower today."

"If you guys don't mind, can I? I suddenly feel really gross," Ben asked from the floor.

"Y-You g-go t-too M-Mike, i-it's y-your house," Bill offered.

"So- Eddie and Stanley, Ben and Mike, then?" Beverly asked, wanting a clear plan.

"Y-You," Bill said, gesturing towards Beverly, "and R-R-Richie? I d-don't m-mind w-waiting."

"I'll just save it for later," Richie said, who had weirdly stayed pretty silent throughout the conversation, "Like I can just shower tomorrow or something."

Richie clearly looked uncomfortable, and Beverly couldn't work out why- but she knew they all had to wash. They were all incredibly greasy and probably stunk, "We should all shower today," she said it nicely, trying not to annoy the boy.

"I don't mind waiting," Richie said again, sounding more agitated and determined.

"Okay- so Eddie and Stanley first, then Ben and Mike, Me and Bill... Then Richie?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Stanley agreed.

Mike led Eddie and Stanley off to the two bathrooms, leaving Beverly with Bill, Ben, and a slightly sulky Richie. Eddie's absence only caused Richie to sink into his seat more, dramatically folding his arms as if he were a toddler. Beverly didn't want him to be upset or annoyed, obviously, but she couldn't even begin to work out what was wrong with him. He was completely fine until Eddie brought up wanting to shower, and now he's slumped on the couch seemingly refusing to join in the conversation.

"I'm going to the barn. I'm tired," Richie bluntly stated as he stood up, before leaving the house all together.

* * *

Obviously Richie would have to shower at some point, he knew that. But it didn't have to be today- he could wait until tomorrow, or in a few days. It would take too much time for them to all shower today anyways, it was already getting darker out slightly and if they all showered they wouldn't be eating dinner until midnight- so it made sense for Richie to wait, he'd be helping all of them. He'd shower the next morning, he just didn't want to now because it didn't make sense for him to. He'd be able to do it, it was just a shower. But, he should wait. That way they could all eat earlier and get to bed- Richie didn't even mind being slightly dirty, he was used to it after living at that place for so long, they rarely go to wash, so what was another day now? He'd be able to shower- tomorrow, or the day after. He'd be able to do it, it just didn't make sense to now.

As soon as Richie got into the barn he jumped on his bed and just let himself fall down, he wasn't really tired, but just needed to get away from everyone. Maybe if he just stayed in here they'd forget and not make him shower, or at least leave him alone about it. He couldn't tell them all why he really didn't want to, it was pathetic. He knew it wouldn't hurt him and he would be fine- there weren't any guards at the house and it was perfectly safe- yet at the same time going anywhere near a shower felt the complete opposite to safety. So, Richie wouldn't shower- he could tomorrow, or in a few days. That way- he would know it's coming. And it meant they could eat earlier tonight.

Richie had no idea how long he had been laying on his bed lost in his thoughts when Bill came in, "R-R-Richie, the sh-shower's y-yours," he offered, a towel still around his waist, and his hair wet and stuck to his forehead.

Richie groaned slightly as he sat up, not wanting to go anywhere near the bathroom, "I'll do it tomorrow, it's late- we should eat."

"I-It's only l-like s-seven or e-eight, I'm s-sure th-there's time" Bill said before quickly adding, "O-Oh- and t-take c-clothes w-with y-you, I d-didn't th-think t-to a-and i-it's f-freezing w-walking h-here."

"Sure thing," Richie said, trying to hide the slight mix of fear and annoyance in his voice.

"B-Bev's i-in th-the d-downstairs one- you'll h-have t-t-to go u-upstairs," Bill quickly added as Richie left the barn, not even bothering to look at Bill.

In the house, Eddie, Stanley, Ben and Mike were all in the living room, all of their hair still slightly damp, and all still talking, "The bathrooms just up the stairs and to the left," Mike said, smiling from the couch, "Towels are in the cabinet between it and the first bedroom."

"Whatever," Richie groaned, refusing to show any sign of fear- this pathetic fucking fear.

Richie didn't listen to Bill and bring a spare shirt or hoodie to change into, and he didn't grab a towel either. He had no intention on showering- he refused to. Not today. He'd end up freaking out and panicking, and that was only if he managed to actually get in the shower- then he'd just look weak or weird or just generally pathetic. The bathroom was nice enough; it had a toilet, sink and bath like most bathrooms, the floor was covered in gray tiles and the wall was white. It was cleaner than the toilets at the lab, but Richie felt just as uncomfortable standing inside it. He knew he couldn't shower- but he had to somehow convince everyone he did. The mirror above the sink reflected Richie back to himself, and he looked like a complete mess. He hadn't been able to look at himself really since they ran away, and even before that he was never given a proper opportunity to really look at himself. He was a mess though, his hair very clearly greasy and his nose and forehead shiny from oils. He also had various spots and pimples scattered across his face, which was to be expected really, considering he was a sixteen-year-old boy.

He turned to look at the bath, the curtain was still pulled back from where Bill just got out, and the wall and bottom of the bath were still wet. If Richie just turned the shower on for a while maybe he could convince the group then he washed, that could work- as long as they didn't question his still greasy hair and shiny face. He'd be fine, he would just have to worry about that when he got to it. Making his way over to the shower, Richie suddenly felt more nervous- he had been the whole time, but now he really didn't want to go anywhere near the shower or be in the bathroom, memory after memory forcing it's way into his head. He reached towards the tap anyways though, hand now shaking as he gulped slightly. This was all so pointless, Eddie was fine to shower and water physically hurt the smaller boy, yet here Richie was- close to a panic attack over turning the shower on. Richie sharply turned the handle, and flinched back and some of the water sprayed over his forearm and hand. The sound of the water drilling into the bottom of the bath only brought back more memories and more fear to Richie, and his whole body began to shake more as his breath became more heavy- tears threatening to spill down his face, "P-Please," Richie shakily whispered to himself, "d-don't-"

 

_-_

_"Please! D-Don't," Richie pleaded as the two men dragged him down the corridor towards the shower room, "Stop! Please, p-please..."_

_It happened a few times a week, between tests and experiments two of the many guards would drag Richie to the shower room, it was a dirty gray room with five rusty shower heads lined against one of the walls, cheap soaps in the basket next to the pile of damp, dirty towels by the door. Richie never understood why there were five showers in the one room, he'd never seen anyone else shower in here when he was being showered. He assumed the other few people here were allowed to wash themselves though, so maybe he never saw anyone because he required two guards to hold him in place._

_"Stop!" He cried again as they dragged him into the dirty room, "It... It hurts."_

_"It doesn't hurt," one of the men spat, "You're the only one who needs this special assistance. Everyone else is fine."_

_"Please," Richie was desperate now, not even bothering to scream- but the guards were having none of it, instead they just threw him against the wall, one holding him in place as the other started violently taking his clothes off- it was humiliating; Richie was completely naked in seconds, trying to break out of the men's arms as they basically just laughed at him._

_"Stop fucking moving," one of them sneered, "it's pathetic."_

_The water was ice cold, similar to the tanks Dr. Dennis would drown him in, in theory the shower should be easier- he could still breath and see, however, he was also pinned against the wall, balling his eyes out as two men who seemingly hated him washed him down with little to no care. They didn't even do it properly, the whole thing was more about the entertainment than actually cleaning Richie. If it was actually about helping him shower, they wouldn't pin him against the wall and laugh, they'd actually listen to him, and they'd stop when Richie said to._

_"Please," Richie begged again, crying even more now, "Please, I don't like it. Please..."_

_Richie didn't even realize it had happened until it was over, and there was a sudden pain in his left cheek. The man who hit him shook his hand slightly, for whatever reason, before mockingly saying to Richie, "Stop fucking complaining- you fucking pussy."_

_Richie just felt more tears fall down his cheeks, mixing with the cold soap filled water spilling from the tap and through his hair. He felt pathetic, and worthless, stupid and pointless. Because he really was- wasn't he? He was a fucking water-bender- yet he couldn't bear to shower because of some tank of water._

_He was the definition of pathetic, which everyone loved to constantly remind him._

_-_

 

"Richie?" The voice came from the other side of the door, and Richie recognized it as Eddie's. Richie had no clue how long he had been in the bathroom, he hadn't even looked at the shower since turning it on, and had instead opted to sulk on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest and his face in his hands, like the pathetic pussy he was.

"Richie?" Eddie asked again, "It's been an hour, are you okay in there?"

Richie didn't want to reply- at all. He'd been crying for an hour, apparently, and there was no way Eddie or any of the others would see him like this. Eddie would leave in a minute, then Richie would figure out what to do.

"Are you okay? Richie? Did you lock the door," Eddie paused for a second and Richie saw the handle turn, of course he forgot to lock the door, "I'm coming in? Okay?"

"No!" Richie whelped as he pushed his body back from the door slightly, but it was too late- Eddie was stood there looking down at Richie, who's face was now not only shiny and covered in pimples, but also red with puffy eyes and wet cheeks, "Eds-"

"Richie," Eddie cut him off, rushing over to where Richie was sat against the wall, after shutting the door, "What happened? Why are you crying."

Eddie cupped Richie's cheeks, wiping the taller boy's eyes with the pads of his thumbs, only causing Richie to embarrassingly cry more, "I can't shower," was all Richie managed to croak out.

"Why? What's wrong? Richie," Eddie looked close to tears himself as he worried over Richie, "What happened?"

"I just can't," Richie looked to the floor, not wanting to look Eddie in the eye- he felt as weak as he did when the guards would drag him around; helpless and pathetic, "I-I'm... Scared..."

"What did they do to you?" Eddie's voice was calmer now, he still looked incredibly sad, and his breathing was heavier- but Richie could tell he was trying to calm himself down.

"They'd... They put me in this tank," Richie tried to explain through breaths, "at first they thought I could breath underwater, which- which I can't... Then... They-" Richie cut himself off, looking up at the boy they used him to hurt. Richie instantly felt flooded with guilt, Eddie- who had been nothing but nice to him, Richie spent most of his life destroying.

"They what?" Eddie asked, looking equally desperate for answers and to help in some way.

"I'm sorry," Richie hardly whispered, "I never wanted to."

"What? Richie? You have to be specific-"

Before Eddie could finish whatever he was trying to say Richie just himself fall onto Eddie, who instantly wrapped his arms around the taller boy, "I'm so sorry," Richie said again, as if he was pleading for forgiveness.

"Don't be sorry, you've not done anything," Eddie reassured, and Richie felt himself go stiff- Eddie had no idea. He would hate Richie, Richie had seen him sometimes after everything, how blistered Eddie would become almost instantly, his cries of pain as they dragged him around, how helpless they managed to make him look- and it was all Richie's fault.

"You don't get it Eds," Richie pulled away, looking at Eddie who still looked somewhere between confused and devastated, "It's my fault- all of it."

"Rich-"

"The rain- they didn't do it, it was me," Richie felt himself crying even heavier, "I never wanted to- I begged them to stop, I get they needed to learn from me, and I would've done it- but I never... I never meant to hurt you- they said it was necessary though... I should have stopped it- I could've... I'm sorry- Eds-"

"You never hurt me," Eddie said, preventing Richie from rambling on.

"But I did," Richie whispered out, his voice breaking slightly.

"No you didn't- they did. Those awful people, it's not your fault."

"I never wanted to, I'd see you... After it all- I... I'm so sorry."

"Shhh," Eddie placed a hand on Richie's shoulder, "I'd never blame you. Okay?"

Richie couldn't do much but nod in response.

"You still need to shower," Eddie said, he said it gently though- like he understood why Richie didn't want to, and in a way he did, "I'll help okay? You trust me?"

"I can't," Richie argued, "I-"

"I won't hurt you, you need to wash. Here," Eddie removed his hand from Richie's shoulder and stood up, moving over to the bath. He turned the shower off, before turning the other handle, causing the faucet to start spitting out water, filling the bath, "I get bathing will be harder than showering, but it's easier for me to help that way- yeah?"

"Don't hurt me, please..." Richie didn't mean to say it, but he really couldn't help it as the memories of guard after guard rushed through his brain.

Eddie looked at Richie in disbelief and pure sympathy, "I'd never hurt you, you're like my best friend Richie- I can go? I just... I want to make sure you're okay."

"Stay," Richie said quickly, really not wanting Eddie to leave again, "I didn't mean it- the guards... They'd have to help shower me, and..."

"It's okay," Eddie smiled at Richie, before walking back over to him and kneeling down next to Richie, "here," Eddie offered as he started unbuttoning the ugly beige shirt Richie still had on.

"Thanks," Richie smiled at Eddie, who was still working at the small buttons on Richie's shirt- the job wasn't made any easier as Richie was still shaking slightly.

"You take off the pants, I'll test the water. Just- leave your underwear on, obviously. It'll be fine."

"Okay," Richie agreed, his hands shaking made it slightly harder to unbutton and then unzip his pants, but he manged- by the time he was just sat in his underwear the water was apparently a suitable temperature and the bath was full enough.

Eddie helped Richie over to the bath, who was still crying and shaking slightly, and as they got to where Richie would need to get in he felt himself start to freak out again, "I can't Eds- It's... It's..."

"It's fine," Eddie reassured, "I'm here- not the guards, not Dr. Dennis- you're safe, I promise."

Richie lifted his foot hesitantly, and clung onto Eddie's hand as he did it. As his first toe made contact with the water he instantly pulled back, although the water was far warmer, the feeling was all too similar of the tank.

"Rich," Eddie soothed, "You're okay, I promise. Just breath- we're in Mike's house, it's a warm bath, and I'll be here, just breath."

Richie lowered his foot again, reminding himself constantly of Eddie's words; he was safe, in Mike's house, with Eddie, away from the guards. He was safe, in Mike's house, with Eddie, away from the guards. He was safe. He lowered his foot in again- first his toes, then his foot and eventually the water was up to his ankle, he moved his foot around slightly, the water was warm and he was holding Eddie's hand. He was in Mike's house; he was safe. He was then able to properly take the step in, his foot and all his body weight against the bottom of the bath, with one foot still on the floor next to Eddie.

"See, you're okay- I promise," Eddie carried on reassuring from next to Richie, "You're safe."

The next foot was easier, and before he knew it Richie was stood in the bathtub, water surrounding his thighs, "I'm okay," he said, partially to Eddie but mainly to himself, "I'm okay."

The next step was for Richie to sit down, he was now holding both of Eddie's hands as he slowly sunk into the water. His breathing going up occasionally, or another tear rolled down his cheek, but every time it happened, Eddie reminded him that he was okay and that Eddie would keep him safe. By the time he was sat in the water, it almost felt stupid to be afraid of, he was still breathing heavier and shaking sightly, but he wasn't as scared, which was good. And Eddie wasn't lying when he said he'd help Richie, as soon as Richie was sat down Eddie had the shower head in his hand and turned it on, aiming it into the bath, "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, looking at Richie for a response.

"I know," Richie said, giving the small boy a smile.

Eddie moved the shower head so the water was soaking into Richie's hair and rolling down his face and back, the whole time Richie kept his eyes glued on Eddie- it was probably slightly off-putting for the other boy- but if Richie looked away, removed his glasses or shut his eyes, he'd probably have a panic attack- so it was for the best. As soon as Eddie felt Richie's hair was wet enough, the shower head was switched off and discarded to the floor, and Eddie reached for the shampoo that was neatly set on the shelf. He squeezed a generous amount onto his hand before rubbing it through Richie's hair and into his scalp, and Richie couldn't help but let out a sigh as he leaned his head back slightly. It was nothing like the showers back at the lab, whoever was washing him just quickly and violently scrubbing at his head, usually bashing it against the wall quite a few times in the process. Then there was washing his body, which was always the most humiliating part- being pinned against the wall with your body on full display to someone who couldn't give less of a shit about you was never a good experience. Eddie, however, took even more care with that then he did with Richie's hair. Slowly running the cloth over Richie's shoulders and down his back while offering a chorus of  _'you're okay,'_ and  _'I won't hurt you,'_ and  _'just breath.'_

The whole thing was over and done with relatively quickly, and by the time Eddie had finished rinsing Richie off, he had stopped crying and shaking- causing both boys to instead be smiling.

"Where are your clothes? And towel?" Eddie asked, looking around the small room.

"Didn't bring any," Richie answered, shrugging slightly.

Eddie paused for a moment, and was clearly thinking about something, "I'll go get a towel- just stay in the water, don't freak out. I'll be two seconds, you can get changed in the barn like Bill did- okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay," Richie replied, he'd be fine sitting here for another minute or two- Eddie would just be outside.

"I'll be right back," Eddie promised as he got to his feet and rushed out the bathroom to the cabinet just down the hall.

While Eddie was gone Richie, weirdly, still felt comfortable. The water was slightly colder now, but it was still semi-warm. Richie used to love water, he'd swim whenever given the chance and jump in every and any puddle he saw. There was always something about it that amazed him- it still amazes him really, he'd just been so trained to fear it. He still does- fear it, obviously. The memories of the tank, showers and rain still haunt him- but here in this bathtub, he feels safe. So safe he doesn't even realize he started spinning his wrist in circles slowly, causing some of the water to float up and form a bubble type shape, following wherever his hand led it. It was Eddie reentering the room that broke him from his small trance, "Richie?" Eddie said in complete disbelief, looking at the bubble now level with Richie's head. As Richie turned to look at Eddie and his attention was pulled from the water, the bubble burst, splashing back into the tub.

"Yeah?"

"Since when... How long have you been able to do that?"

Richie looked at his hand for a second, before replying, "I'm not sure, forever really."

"So you can do that and control the weather?"

"The weather thing's hardly a power," Richie shrugged slightly, "Just my emotions rapidly changing."

"Imagine what you could do with both of them- working together."

"I've never even tried that," Richie paused for a second, "Can I have the towel?"

"Oh... Yeah, here. Sorry," Eddie handed Richie the towel, which the taller boy took after removing the plug from the bathtub.

"Thanks, Eds. Really."

"It was nothing," Eddie paused, "I can help you again, if you want. I don't have to- just so you don't freak out- I don't want you to cry again, it makes me feel awful."

Richie just smiled at Eddie, he still felt incredibly bad for everything he had done to him- and even just now he'd managed to upset him slightly, but he already knew he'd do anything for the tiny fire-bender, "I don't think I'd be able to go near that thing without you, honestly."

 

 


	8. they know how to break us down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did somebody say stanlon???
> 
> yes, me.
> 
> stanlon is adorable and this chapter is dedicated to my two boys.

After Mike finished in the shower, Beverly was quick to rush off to have one herself. It was weird; none of them realized how truly dirty and in need of a wash they were until the idea of a shower was brought up, and then it was all they could think about. The shower was far different to the ones at the lab, hot with steam flooding around the room. There was privacy, the soap actually smelt good, and they could take as long as they needed. It was relaxing- it was what a shower should be. Mike never took too long to shower, but he made sure to appreciate this one a bit more, instead of washing and rinsing off as quick as humanly possible, Mike allowed the water to roll down his face and back, shutting his eyes slightly as he listened to the therapeutic sound of the water hammering onto him and the floor. It was so peaceful and calming and so different to anything Mike had experienced over the past few years, and he was instantly grateful for the experience.

Once Mike was out of the shower, dried off, and changed into his pants and an old sweater of his granddad's he made his way back downstairs. Bill was still sat on the floor, waiting for Ben to finish in the shower, Richie was still gone, Eddie was back on the couch from his shower, and Stanley was nowhere to be seen,

"Where's Stan?" Mike asked the two boys, assuming he was probably with Richie- but he couldn't be sure.

"I'm not sure, he finished before me and has been gone since I got down here," Eddie replied.

"H-He w-went outside, I-I-I don't know w-w-why th-though," Bill responded, shifting slightly from where the floor probably wasn't too comfortable.

"You think he's with Richie?" Mike asked, weirdly worried about Stan's sudden disappearance.

"Probably not," Eddie replied, he looked like he was thinking something over, "Richie didn't seem in the mood to talk to anyone," he finally added.

"H-He c-c-could be th-though, m-making s-sure R-R-Richie is okay."

"Maybe I should check on Rich," Eddie said, although it seemed like he was just thinking out loud more than anything.

"I'm going to go see if I can find Stanley," Mike said. It was like he knew Stanley wouldn't be with Richie, because despite being a very sweet thought, it just wasn't likely. Mike wouldn't be able to explain why- but just knew it probably wasn't the case, "Where's Richie?" Mike asked just before leaving, "I don't want to bother him."

"B-Barn," Bill replied, "I-I don't know where St-Stan could b-be besides th-there th-though."

"Swing?" Eddie suggested to Bill, as Mike was just opening the door.

"W-We'd s-see h-him," Bill pointed out.

"Oh yeah, well, good luck on your search Mike," Eddie turned to smile at Mike.

"Thanks," Mike replied as he left the house, before closing the door.

Bill was right, Stanley wasn't on the swing, or next to the tree at all, and Mike already knew he wouldn't be in the barn. There wasn't really anywhere else though- he could be behind the barn or house or something, that was possible. Or he could have walked into town or something? That seemed extremely unlikely though. Mike decided to look behind the house and barn first, and if he couldn't find Stan then he'd start looking further out. Behind the house was empty, just grass and the small bit of gravel that circled the whole house. Then Mike walked around the barn, having the same result. Stan was nowhere to be found. He could be sitting by a tree in the small little clump behind the barn... Or- the stable! He could've easily found the old stable, if it was still there. Mike didn't know why Stanley would want to sit in the stable, but at this point Mike was dedicated to finding Stanley and that meant checking everywhere.

The stable was further away than Mike remembered it being, he thought it was just behind a few of the trees but it turns out it's through the trees and then down some small path to anther clump of trees. It was still only a two minute walk, but Mike was expecting it to take about two seconds. The more he walked the less likely it seemed Stanley would be there; how would he have found it without already knowing about it? Why would he walk all this way anyways? If he needed to think or just sit by himself for whatever reason he was just in the shower.

The stable was only a small building, fit for one or two horses. It was pretty typical too, it was the stall style of stable- just two long doors leading to two small spaces with a roof over top. Nothing too big, nothing fancy, just a stable. As Mike got closer to the small building, it became clear that one of the doors was open- showing the interior slightly. Then, as Mike took a few more steps towards it he realized that Stanley was, in fact, sitting inside the open stall. He was leaning against an old bale looking up at the ceiling, and he obviously didn't expect Mike or anyone to be paying a visit, as when Mike greeted him with a simple, "Hey," Stanley flinched and jumped to the side slightly.

"Oh- hi Mike," he answered, he still seemed slightly confused.

"You okay?" Mike asked, Stanley didn't seem completely okay to be honest, he was completely flustered with Mike's appearance and just didn't seem overly happy. 

"What? Yeah," Stanley paused for a second, looking to the floor. Mike took the opportunity to walk in the small room with the other boy, as it was pretty evident something was wrong with Stan, "I was just thinking."

"What about?" Mike asked, as he sat down next to Stanley, also leaning against the hay bale.

"I don't know... Just..." Stanley cut himself off, seeming very unsure and slightly uncomfortable.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," Mike started before quickly adding, "But I'd listen. Seriously, if there's anything wrong ever you can come to me."

Stanley looked up from the floor to Mike, and something seemed to change in his expression. It was like he relaxed slightly, and it seemed like before he could help it the boy just started talking, "Just," Stan took a long pause, "I guess I just don't want to die..." Another long pause, "But, the guards- those men- they're... They're looking for us and- I don't want to go back, and I know if I do they'll kill me. I just don't want to die, and I used to. I used to want nothing more than for one of those men to just storm in and drag me off to my death, because it was better than just existing. I didn't even know there was more out here, this town or the city, I thought I just had an eternity of fucking torture... I wanted to die Mike, I really did. But now I can't think of anything worse."

Stanley had avoided eye contact the whole time, and instead looked back to the floor, HE looked completely in shock at how much he let spill out of him, and he was very clearly close to tears, "You won't die," Mike replied, he wasn't sure how he was meant to respond to something like that, but he knew Stanley wasn't going to die, "I'd never let them kill you."

"They'd kill me though," Stanley was barely whispering, "I'm so useless and powerless, after this... After us leaving, they'd just- I don't know. Shoot me? And, they're coming for us-"

"Stan," Mike interrupted, causing Stan to finally look at Mike again, "I'd never let them hurt you."

"But they can beat us," Stanley argued, "With- With the-" he couldn't finish what he was trying to say, he was shaking too much and it looked like he was close to tears as well, Mike felt awful.

"What did they do to you?" Mike asked, not knowing if it was the right question but needing to know the answer. Whatever they did was bad, far worse than anything done to Mike, and Mike was left with the sudden urge to comfort and protect Stan for the rest of eternity. 

"They controlled us for so long," Stanley seemed extremely flustered now, and completely ignored Mike's question, "They know how we work, how to break us down, how to... They know everything... Sure, we have powers- well, you all have powers- but they know that, they know how to break us down-"

"Stan," Mike interrupted again, he spoke calmly, trying anything to help Stanley relax, "What did they do to you?"

Stanley turned to Mike again, allowing Mike to see the very clear tears that now flooded down his face, "Th-They," Stanley stuttered out as he felt his body start to shake, thinking back to everything that had happened to him; all the torture, the pain, the hatred- all of it.

The sight brought nothing but rage and sympathy to Mike, pure hatred directed to every single guard who hurt Stan, as well as nothing but sympathy for the broken boy in front of him, "It'll be okay," Mike soothed as he leaned over to pull Stanley into a hug, as Mike cradled the crying boy he was constantly reminding him that it would be okay, and Stanley didn't have to talk about anything that made him uncomfortable- because he didn't have to. Mike didn't want him to, if talking about it would just upset Stan more then it was useless. After a few long seconds of Mike just hugging Stanley, the other boy finally wrapped his arms around Mike in return, it felt desperate; like Stan was clinging onto Mike for safety, for his life. And in a way he probably was.

"They," Stanley started again before pausing, a few minutes after the first attempt of explaining it, "They had me chained to the wall... Permanently," Stanley was barely whispering, and still crying as he hugged Mike, "It hurt so bad and it never seemed to end," there was yet another huge pause as Stanley buried his head into Mike's shoulder for a few moments before continuing, "But when I wasn't it was worse."

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want," Mike reassured, also in a whisper, as he rubbed Stan's back slightly, "But I care, okay?"

"They'd hit me," Stanley just about breathed out, "... It- It was like a game to them... They found it funny."

Mike moved his head so he was looking down to Stan, but before he could say anything Stanley carried on, "And it wasn't just with their hands either, they'd... It's like they'd get me to fly- force me to fly- and then see who could inflict the most pain, cause me to fall... And they'd use anything- the hoses, or these huge pipe things, or they'd shoot me with those guns..."

Stanley was shaking and crying even more as he said it, and it was obvious to Mike that he was barely scratching the surface, "They won't do it again," Mike promised, still looking down at Stan.

"How can you say that? None of us can stop them."

"I'll do everything in my power to stop them, I promise. I can't guarantee it, obviously, but... I'll do anything I can, absolutely anything."

"They're strong though," Stanley whispered again, barely taking in Mike's words as he tightened his grip around Mike, "Once they... they..."

"It's okay," Mike reassured once again.

"They dragged me to the room, like normal... And... And as soon as I started to fly one of them- one of the guards- they threw this water over me, but it was boiling hot," Stanley paused for a moment as he started breathing more heavily and crying more, "It was so hot, it burnt like crazy, and- and I instantly fell to the ground because it hurt, but... They got mad at me for not being able to fly for long so... So they got this stick, or pole- something. It was metal, and hotter than the water... I was crying because the water hurt but then they hit where the water fell with the stick- and..." Stanley couldn't finish as his breaths and sobs became to demanding for him to talk.

"Stan..." Mike whispered, now also crying slightly.

Stanley just looked up at Mike, still shaking and crying violently as he managed to get out a simple, "Yeah?"

"You're safe here, I- please don't be scared, okay?"

"But-"

"I promise," Mike raised a hand to hold one of Stanley's cheeks, trying to further reassure him, "I'm not letting them hurt you- ever again."

Stanley just seemed to melt into Mike, tightening his grip around the broader boy's waist even more as he carried on crying, and Mike just hugged him back. He wanted nothing more than for Stanley to be happy, like he seemed to be earlier, but he also now knew he'd have to do anything he could to help this boy, "It's because of the shower," Stanley whispered, and Mike didn't really understand what he meant.

"What is?"

"When I'm by myself- I just get lost in my thoughts, and my thoughts are always so... So..."

"I get it," Mike replied, partially understanding the feeling, "After my parents died I thought about it a lot, and it never ended well."

"Yeah," Stanley whispered, moving away from Mike slightly so he could rub at his eyes, "And when I'm in the shower I have to look at it... At the scar."

"Oh," Mike was still just looking at Stanley, his heart breaking more with every tear that fell down the blond boy's face.

"I hate it," Stanley mumbled as he moved one of his hands to his right thigh, moving it up and down slightly, "It's so ugly."

Mike didn't know how to reply, and just fell silent as he watched Stanley move his hand up and down his leg. After a few silent moments however, Mike finally replied without thinking, "You're really pretty though."

Stanley looked confused for a second and Mike started to panic slightly at what he said, until Stanley started to smile at Mike, "Really?" he asked, as he looked at Mike with a sense of uncertainty.

"Yeah," Mike replied, "You are."

Stanley just leaned into Mike once again and Mike instinctively wrapped his arms around Stan as Stan whispered, "You are too."  

Mike had no clue how long the two of them stayed sat there hugging, but after a while what was once a peaceful day outside started to howl with rough wind out of nowhere, the two boys broke apart to look out the stable and it wasn't long before the hard pounding of raindrops could be heard crashing onto the stable. It was weird, the more Mike looked out the stable door and to the sky the more off the rain seemed, like there were clouds in the sky and the rain was normal, but it just felt off, or different. Especially since it hadn't rained since they broke out of the lab, and it wasn't showing any signs of raining either. Stanley also seemed to think something was up, as when he leaned over Mike slightly to look out the door more clearly the first thing he said was, "The rain looks weird."

"It looks fake almost," Mike agreed, as he carried on looking at the sky. The clouds were darkening by the second, which just added to the weird atmosphere.

"Man-made," Stan said, looking up in a similar way to Mike.

"Should we go back inside?" Mike asked, the roof of the stable wasn't in the best of conditions, and if the rain got heavier it would be impossible to get inside without being soaked to the bone.

"We probably should," Stanley replied, he was clearly slightly disappointed with the thought as he added, "I like it out here though."

"Me too," Mike did like it, and he liked Stan too. Out of everyone he got along with Stan the most, and after Stanley opened up to him it would be hard for Mike to value anyone over the curly haired boy, "We could stay out here a bit longer?"

Stanley just let out a breath of relief as he relaxed against Mike, Mike still with an arm over him, and he pulled his hands up to rub at his eyes a bit. After a few moments of him wiping and drying his eyes he asked Mike, "Is it obvious I was crying?"

"Not really," Mike looked over Stan's features, he wasn't lying when he called Stanley pretty, the boy had icy blue eyes and golden hair that flopped over his forehead sightly. His eyes were still slightly pink, but it was only noticeable because Mike knew the boy had been crying. Stanley also had fair skin, it wasn't as pale as Richie's, or even Bill's, but he was still quite pale. It suited him though, it made his eyes pop and matched his hair well, "You look fine."

Stanley smiled once again at Mike before whispering, "We can go back in soon then, but a few more minutes out here won't hurt."


	9. The Clearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took like a year to get out!!  
> I've been doing lots of work for school, and my parents have been real dicks recently, so that and a few other things have gotten in the way of my update schedule. I'm also re-planning a decent chunk of this fic, meaning that whereas this chapter could've been ready yesterday or maybe even a day before, I had to re-write certain parts of it.  
> Talking about re-planning this, I have the basic story mapped out, however, if you have any ideas or small prompts for this fic feel free to leave a comment or send me an ask on tumblr (@tozieruniverse), as you're the ones reading it I'd love to include your ideas, so if you send me one I like chances are I'll try to work it in :)
> 
> Also sorry this kind of ends suddenly?? I had no clue how to end it and probably could've just carried on but I need sleep and I didn't want it to drag on :/

Richie had been upstairs for an hour when Eddie decided to go check on him, no one else had taken that long and Eddie was convinced that he was either dead or very badly hurt, he also muttered something about the sudden bursts of winds causing tree branches to drag across the back of the house. He didn't leave much time for Ben, Bill or Beverly to question him either, as soon as he was saying it he had managed to rush half way up the stairs to where Richie was probably showering peacefully, he had longer hair that was also slightly curly, meaning it most likely just took longer to wash or something. Bill and Eddie had also informed Ben when he returned from his shower that Mike was out looking for Stan, and neither boy had been seen since Ben came downstairs- this left Ben as well as Bill and Beverly in the living room, with not much to do.

Beverly had been fidgeting and shuffling constantly, like she wanted to say or do something but didn't know how to say or do it. Based on the few days Ben had known Beverly, he knew she was one to just have an idea (which isn't always the best) and then fully stick to it no matter what that meant. She is the reason they all started the riot of sorts and are now on the run, and she was one of the few rounding everyone up to get them to the city. Typically, her ideas were good and helped in the long run, but could also not be the safest. Bill was talking to the two of them about dinner, Ben was trying to listen but he couldn't help his mind wandering sightly. The day had been extremely frantic and extremely dangerous, so Ben's priorities weren't exactly what flavor of ramen they'd be eating for dinner. Richie and Eddie vanished for about 15 minutes by themselves and were apparently bing chased by multiple guards, and the other five had to hide under the bridge praying that they were all safe. It was too risky, yet they would almost certainly have to go back. Bill and Beverly, and Richie to a certain extent, seemed perfectly happy to go back whenever was necessary- but they couldn't just go back. There'd be more guards there, and in surrounding areas now. There could be guards in Derry looking for them, so they wouldn't just be leaving the barn for a leisurely stroll any time soon.

Ben's thoughts were cut short when Richie and Eddie reappeared, Richie's hair damp from his shower and the two practically glued together as usual. It was sweet how they acted together, and never failed to bring a smile to Ben's face, watching how they connected the way they did was just mesmerizing to a certain extent- Ben assumed they never spoke before running away, so their instant bond must've been down to pure connection, they just fit each other so well, and it was wonderful to watch. Poetic, really. Ben loved poetry, he'd never been able to write them due to the lab not exactly handing out pens and paper, but he'd think them and recite them in his head, some he still remembered, others were long forgotten.

"Mike and Stan are still gone?" Eddie quizzed as he and Richie crashed on the couch adjacent from the one he and Beverly were sat on, Bill had moved himself to the kitchen sometime during the conversation to start preparing ramen noodles for everyone.

"Yep," Beverly was quick to reply, "What do you think they're doing?"

"M-Maybe M-Mike couldn't f-find St-Stanley," Bill suggested.

"He couldn't have been that far," Ben pointed out, because he couldn't have. There's no way that after everything that had happened with Richie and Eddie and the guards Stan just went wandering off by himself, "It's way too dangerous out there right now."

"You think?" Beverly asked, sitting up slightly as if she was suddenly invested in the conversation, "It can't be too bad, we lost the guards."

"Exactly, which means they'll be looking," Ben hated to be pessimistic, he really did, but sometimes the pessimistic view is closer to reality.

"He's right," Eddie agreed from where he was now situated on the couch with Richie leaning into him.

"I'll keep you safe Eds, I did earlier," Richie chimed in, laying back so his head was now in Eddie's lap and he was looking up at the smaller boy.

"Only just," Eddie agreed.

"See, I won't let them hurt you."

"Ben's still right though," Eddie said as he looked from Richie to Ben, "We can't go out yet, not for at least a few days. Or if we do, only one or two of us should go- and not in the uniforms."

"Exactly," Ben agreed.

"I guess you're right, but-" Beverly started, but she was cut off by the sudden drumming on the window facing out to the front yard, all of a sudden and completely out of nowhere it looked like buckets of water were being thrown against the window, and the sound it was making against the roof and walls was horrendous. What made it even weirder was how fake it seemed, there was something about it that just didn't seem right. The group was stuck looking at it, like they were in some sort of trance, and Ben was just trying to figure it all out; how it came out of nowhere all at once, how there were little to no clouds in the sky, and the ones that were there were white or light grey, how it was still perfectly sunny out with no thunder or lightning or anything. Yet there was still a heavy shower of rain crashing into the house and yard as far as the window let them see.

"That..." Eddie started from the couch, sitting up slightly to get a better view out the window, but unable to finish his thought for whatever reason.

"It's weird," Ben added, trying to describe what they were seeing, because there wasn't much to describe. It seemed so completely normal whilst at the same time looking extremely unreal.

"Th-There w-wasn't any s-signs of r-rain earlier," Bill pointed out, he had moved closer to the others from the kitchen to get a better look out the window.

"I hope Mike and Stanley aren't stuck in it," Beverly said relatively quietly.

"That'd suck," Eddie agreed.

The group carried on looking out the window at the rain pouring down the glass and pooling throughout the yard and path for a few more minutes, until it all suddenly stopped in the same way it started. It was even weirder watching it end, it was like when a shower is turned off, sharp and sudden, there was no fade from heavy downfall to light shower to a small drizzle before finally fading out- it literally looked like someone had pulled a switch and turned it off. And Ben didn't really know how much he trusted it, he sounded ridiculous to himself, who gets so paranoid that rain becomes suspicious? But it was a fair criticism, after some of the shit that had happened to him something like that could easily have a deeper meaning to it.

"What w-w-was th-that?" Bill asked, but it sounded like he was more thinking out loud than anything.

"Rain," Richie simply replied, head still in Eddie's lap.

"You know what he means," Eddie argued as he poked Richie's cheek lightly, "Do you think it will happen again?" he then asked, sounding significantly more nervous.

"It was just rain Eds, and if it does we'll stay in. You don't have to go in it," Richie's voice went from it's usual bubbly and joking tone to a much more sincere one, and as he said it he took hold of Eddie's hand, which was resting on his chest, before giving it a quick reassuring squeeze.

"It didn't look normal though," Ben pointed out, looking to Bill and Beverly- who were now both in the kitchen, Beverly helping with the noodles.

"It really didn't," Beverly agreed, "I don't know how to describe it though, it just..."

"S-Seemed artificial," Bill suggested.

"Yeah," Ben agreed. Artificial. That was a good way of describing it; it looked like a replica, a copy. Like it was made to represent rain, but because it wasn't a natural occurrence it couldn't look completely like rain- because it wasn't.

"Are you sure?" Richie replied, still not sounding convinced, "Couldn't it just be a smaller storm?"

"I just don't trust it," Ben didn't know why, sure it seemed slightly off, but there was no reason to distrust it- yet he did.

Their conversation was cut short a second time, this time as Mike and Stan, who were completely dry, came through the door. It had been a few minutes now since the rain had ended, and somehow they both managed to avoid it. The two boys seemed a lot closer too, they were obviously good friends- as they all were- but Stanley was unusually closer to Mike, and although Ben didn't want to assume anything, he almost looked upset. Ben wouldn't ask, in case he wasn't or just didn't want to talk about it, but as he walked in next to Mike something just seemed  _wrong._ Mike didn't seem too different, but again was just keeping very close to Stanley. He, unlike Stan, offered everyone a quick "Hello" before the two went over to Bill and Beverly to choose their ramen.

"W-Were y-you n-not in th-the r-rain then?" Bill asked, as he handed the box of noodles over to Stanley, the five bags for everyone else already sitting on the counter.

"We managed to get cover, my mom's old stable. It's just behind the barn slightly," Mike explained.

"You have horses?" Beverly asked, suddenly a lot more interested in the idea of a horse than the mysterious rain they were all still confused over.

"No, my... Uh, after my parents died we got rid of the horse. My granddad sold her or something."

"Oh," was all Beverly seemed capable of getting out.

"We still have the stable though, it's nice," he paused for a second, "I'll have the chili ramen, how about you Stan?"

"I'll have the chili too."

As Bill and Beverly started cooking up everyone's dinner, Mike and Stanley sat down at the island next to each other, and Ben as well as Richie and Eddie made their way to the kitchen to join everyone else. The ramen wouldn't take too long to cook, so they may as well all just wait in the kitchen.

"What was the rain like outside?" Beverly asked as she turned around and leaned on the island so she was facing Stanley and Mike.

"What do you mean?" Stanley asked.

"Th-The rain, i-it seemed f-fake," Bill explained.

"It didn't really feel right, I guess," Mike started, "Like the rain was obviously real, but it also didn't feel like reality. The atmosphere was just different... Weird"

"What do you think it is?" Eddie asked, very clearly more nervous at the idea that the rain wasn't just a quick natural shower.

"It could be the lab, the guards, they saw us earlier. They know we're near the city, so they'll probably be looking," Ben explained, he didn't want to believe it but that's the only other option he could think of.

"No," Stanley bluntly stated, "No, no, no, no, no. They can't be. What if they find us?"

"Exactly!" Eddie cried, "We can't let them find us, do you really think it's them? There's really no other explanation?"

As Eddie and Stanley both showed the discomfort everyone was feeling a lot more visibly than the others, both Richie and Mike tensed up slightly. Richie shuffling slightly closer to Eddie before hesitantly placing one of his hands on the smaller boy's back before moving it so his arm was over Eddie's shoulders after a few moments, and Mike simply moving one of his hands to Stanley's shoulder; a simple yet comforting gesture.

"W-W-We could always ch-check, f-for guards," Bill suggested.

"Are you fucking insane?" Stanley was quick to fire back.

"No, he has a point," Beverly agreed, because of course she would agree to hunting down the guards, she was brave like that. Ben quite liked her for it.

"No- he doesn't," Eddie practically screeched back.

"We won't know if they're there unless we look, and if that rain was them we can't let them know we're here," Beverly explained.

"So your solution to staying hidden is to go wandering around looking for them?" Eddie asked in complete disbelief.

"Not all of us, only two or three. We'll be quiet and stay well hidden while looking around," The girl said, desperately trying to change Eddie's mind.

"I-I'll g-g-go," Bill offered, serving up the first two bowels of ramen to Mike and Stanley.

"No, you won't," Stanley bluntly said, "What happens if they catch you?"

"What happens if they catch you and realize the rest of us are here and take us back too?" Eddie added.

"We'll stay hidden," Beverly argued again.

"And if you're found?" Mike asked, hand still on Stanley's shoulder.

"W-W-We won't b-be."

"You don't know that! Don't go outside!" Eddie argued, looking up at Richie for backup.

"Bill could always use his force fields," Ben suggested, "And Beverly has her mind powers if need be- it's not like we're weak."

"That's not the point," Eddie said as he flashed Ben a glare, warning Ben not to encourage the two of them.

"I'll go with you guys," Richie offered out of nowhere, "The three of us- we'll be fine."

"NO!" Eddie shouted, moving from Richie's grasp to look up at him, "No! Richie, please don't."

"Eds-"

"No! Don't go, it's dangerous Richie! If Bill and Beverly insist on going then fine, but please, don't."

Richie looked genuinely in awe for a moment or two, before snapping himself out of it as he replied to Eddie, "I'm flattered you're so worried about me Eds, but trust me, I'll be fine."

"Of course I'm worried about you!" Eddie span to look at Bill and Beverly, who were now serving up two more bowels of ramen, "And don't think I'm not worried about you two as well! I just don't want you getting taken, Richie, please don't go."

"I'll check," Ben offered, "Yeah. I can use my invisibility- if they're there they won't see me, and if they're not there then we don't have to stay hiding in here, unsure on if we can leave or not."

"Ben!" Eddie shouted.

"No, Eddie. It's better than Beverly, Bill and Richie going because I don't even need to worry about hiding, I'll always be hidden. And if there isn't anyone there then we can feel completely safe."

"As long as you don't mind?" Mike asked between bites of ramen.

"I'll be fine, it'll be easy. It's the one thing I'm good at."

Bill finished up the rest of the ramen as Ben convinced the group he'd be able to go out alone, that he would be well hidden and that nothing could happen. Bill and Eddie were the hardest to convince, whereas everyone else was pretty relaxed, Eddie was convinced that if anyone stepped foot outside the house to do anything besides go to the barn they'd be stolen and dragged back to the lab, and Bill was determined to help Ben out- despite him leaving with Ben would defeat the point of Ben going out invisible. Thankfully, by the time everyone had finished eating, Ben had managed to convince them all that he would be safe and didn't need any help. He was nervous, obviously, but voicing that would just cause Eddie to have another meltdown.

The main problem with turning invisible, was that it didn't work with his clothes. Meaning Ben would have to take them off in the bathroom or somewhere, turn invisible, make his way outside (which would be awkward- because he could see himself when no one else could, meaning it would just feel like he was walking around naked), check for anyone or anything suspicious, and then get back inside, changed and back to normal. He could do it, it would just be a whole lot of effort. The easiest part was getting ready, he just had to slip out his clothes and check in the mirror about a hundred times he was completely invisible. Luckily, he could still talk when hidden, so was able to tell the others he was leaving. They were all going to the barn apparently, which worked out perfect because it meant he wouldn't scare any of them when he got back to the house and would have to open the door with seemingly nothing behind it.

Walking around was the difficult part, he didn't really know where he was meant to check, obviously around the house and barn was vital. He also walked down the dirt path leading to the house a bit, but then he didn't really know where to go. There was the stable Mike had mentioned earlier, but Ben didn't think to ask specifically where that was, and he didn't want to get lost- considering it was getting dark and he was both invisible and naked. He wandered around the clump of trees a bit, it was bigger than it seemed when looking at it, and was more of a small woods than just a cluster of trees behind the barn. There wasn't anything suspicious or out of place either, which Ben was extremely grateful for. Despite volunteering to do this, he had no idea what he'd actually do if he saw something even slightly out of place.

As he made it through the wooded area he eventually came to a decent sized clearing, which he didn't expect. He'd been walking through the trees for about five minutes when the trees suddenly stopped and instead started looping in a ring, leaving a decent amount of grass and a lake type body of water in the middle of it. There wasn't anything there, at all. It was just a clearing with a body of water in the middle, but Ben couldn't help to think about what could be put or built there- did Mike even know about this place? He hadn't said anything about it, but then again he didn't mention the stable either. Ben would tell them anyways, because a clearing like that so close to them (especially if no one knew it was there) wasn't an ideal situation, it would be too perfect for someone, or a group of people, to camp out at.

Ben made his way back to the house shortly after stumbling upon the clearing, he started to feel weird as he let his mind wander down all the worst case scenarios that could happen, and he still felt weird considering he was practically walking around naked. The walk to the house was a lot quicker, probably because he knew where he was going, and once he was back at the house he was dressed again within minutes. Everyone, as he was told, had moved to the barn. It couldn't have been later than 9 or 10, but he wasn't complaining about a longer sleep. Ben got changed quickly, became visible again and before heading to the barn with everyone else put the bowels from their ramen back in the cupboard after drying them properly. It made no sense to leave them in the dish-rack if he could just quickly dry them off and put them away.


	10. Find Me Somebody to Love

They'd been staying at the barn for about four days now; Eddie and Stanley didn't think it was a good idea for them to leave until they definitely knew they were safe, and the others couldn't really argue with them. There wasn't any reason to leave; they hadn't needed food yet (although they were running slightly low on ramen) and they also had plenty of soap/toiletries, and now just enough clothes. They'd have to leave again eventually, it was inevitable, but for now they could wait. Sure, it got boring at the farm some days, and the seven of them would just find themselves laying in the barn or outside in silence with absolutely nothing to do or say, but it was worth it. If it meant they were definitely safe, then anything was worth it.

Eddie had no idea what time it was when he woke up, but it had to either be extremely early in the morning or still night, considering it was dark outside. He woke up with a throat that felt like sandpaper and in desperate need of a drink. He didn't really want to get up though, he'd have to leave his bed and the barn to get to the kitchen, meaning he would be even colder than he already was. It didn't seem possible really, considering his toes and fingers were completely numb and his teeth started chattering as soon as he woke up, but if he got out of the two blankets tightly wrapped around him and off his mattress his whole body would freeze. He did really need a drink though, and decided that a compromise was probably best- if he brought one blanket with him it would be warm already and then Eddie could quickly run to the house and back without his temperature dropping too significantly.

He sat up, pulling the blanket tighter over his shoulders, letting out a breath that was very clearly visible in the cold air of the barn. He looked over the others for a moment or two, procrastinating getting up despite desperately needing a drink, they were all asleep and wrapped in their blankets in a similar way to Eddie. His eyes lingered on Richie for slightly longer than the others, the taller looked different without his glasses- his face was more visible in a way (or, as visible as it could be in the darkness of the room), it was weird watching him sleep though, the boy was always talking- so now that he suddenly wasn't, and was instead just peacefully sleeping in silence, it was weird. After the looking at Richie started to go on for just too long in Eddie's opinion, he started to get up. As he stood and the blanket rose with him, his feet and shins became exposed to the cold air, causing a shiver to jolt through his body. He then stood there for a minute or two, contemplating just ignoring the need for a drink and to instead just fall back into bed, but the more he stood there and the more he woke up, the drier and more demanding of a drink his throat became. And he was already stood up and far colder than he was five minutes ago, so he may as well just go at this point.

The walk across the barn wasn't great either, as Eddie walked the short distance the blanket swayed around his legs in a way that meant a small draught made him even colder. He ended up half running, half skipping to the barn door on his tip toes, letting out quiet "ooh"s and "eeh"s as he went. It was only when he finally rushed out the door Eddie realized something was wrong, how he hadn't heard it before standing outside he had no idea. He was probably too busy worrying about the cold, and the walls of the barn could have blocked it slightly too- but stood outside the barn it was blatantly obvious; the continuous  _tap, tap, tap_ coming from just beyond the trees, or behind the barn? Eddie couldn't tell what it was or where it was coming from, but he was paralyzed with the  _tap, tap, tap_ echoing through his head as his brain took him to the worst possible case scenarios. He let out a shaky breath that was even more visible than the one inside the barn as he turned his head slightly, he couldn't really tell, but it looked like there was something behind the trees, kind of far back. He couldn't see anything in particular, there was just a glow of sorts coming from that area, like whoever or whatever was there had lights set up.

 _Tap, tap, tap,_ it kept going, over and over and Eddie had no clue what was happening, what it was, or what he should do. He felt completely frozen, the only movement being his shivering from the cold and slight fear. As he carried on looking in the general area of whatever was happening, out of nowhere his mind went from  _'they're here, they're going to kill us, I'm going to die, we're all going to die, they're building something now that's going to get us all,'_ to  _'get Richie, Richie will know, where's Richie?'_ and Eddie found himself scrambling back into the barn, no longer noticing the cold temperature as he rushed over to where Richie was, and without even thinking it through started frantically shaking one of Richie's shoulders.

"What... Huh? Eds?" Richie groaned as he rubbed his eyes slightly before grabbing his glasses from where they rested on the floor next to his bed, "Eddie? What's wrong?"

"R-Rich-chie," Eddie stuttered from a mix of being too cold and too nervous, "Th-There's, there's a sound... A tapping- I don't know what it is and I think it might be someone bad but I don't know and I just wanted a drink but now I can't go outside because what if they see me and then drag me off and none of you would know and-" 

Richie cut Eddie's quick spluttering off, "Eddie. Eds. No one's going to get you, where's the tapping? Are you sure it's-"

"Yes!" Eddie whisper shouted, "It's outside... Something- Richie, I'm scared."

"Shit," Richie whispered before pausing for a second, looking down at his lap as if he was thinking something over, "Why are you awake anyways?"

"I needed a drink," Eddie replied before quickly correcting himself, "I need a drink."

"Come on then," Richie said, sitting up more and stretching slightly.

Before Richie could get up, however, Eddie started panicking again, "No! Richie, are you crazy? We can't just go out there what if someone sees or hears us? Or they have motion detectors or cameras? What if we're surrounded and when we leave they come get us?! We can't leave, Richie, please."

Richie didn't pay Eddie much attention; he stood up, leaving his blanket on the bed, unlike Eddie, before holding his hand down to Eddie who was still crouched on the floor, "Come on Eds," he repeated, "You need a drink, yeah?"

Eddie was hesitant, but replied with a quiet, "Yes."

"Then come on," Richie moved his hand in a grabbing motion, urging Eddie to come with him, "We'll be fine."

"Richie," Eddie whined, but took his hand anyways before letting Richie pull him to his feet, blanket still over his shoulders.

"I promise, okay. We will be fine," Richie squeezed Eddie's hand slightly to reassure Eddie, before walking the two of them to the door of the barn.

Once the two boys were outside the noise was a lot more promenade again, and Eddie gripped onto Richie's hand way too tightly as he looked over at the slight glow from beyond the trees again, "See," he whispered impossibly quietly, "What is it?"

"Nothing good," Richie replied, eyes glued to the same area Eddie was staring at, and he seemed stuck in the same frozen state Eddie was only minutes before.

"Do you think it's them?" Eddie asked, fearing that it probably was.

"Let's not think about it," Richie finally responded after a few silent moments, "We'll just... Let's get your drink."

Richie was already on the side closer to whatever was there, but as the two boys walked towards the house he angled himself so Eddie could barely see past him, which Eddie was grateful for. It made him feel slightly safer, despite him realistically being the same distance away from whatever it was. They started off walking slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible so they didn't even risk being heard or seen by anyone or anything. It was slightly stupid really, they had no idea what it was or if it was anything harmful- and even if it was harmful there wasn't any reason to walk so slow, but silently the two boys agreed that was the best way to make it to the house. That was, until, Richie suddenly let out an echo of whispered  _"ShitShitShit!"_ and frantically dragged Eddie to the white building, a lot quicker and with somehow an even tighter grasp on Eddie's hand. Eddie had no clue what Richie was doing at first, but as Richie was suddenly moving so quickly, Eddie ended up trailing behind him slightly- leaving Eddie to see what he imagined Richie saw. Between some of the trees was a small red light, slowly and silently blinking on and off. As it was only a small red point, it was impossible to tell whether it was right up close to the house or deep within the trees and just angled perfectly to shine through. Either way Eddie didn't really care; both options were just as bad in his opinion.

As soon as Richie was in reaching distance of the door it was swung open and Eddie was being flung inside, quickly followed by Richie and the door slamming shut, probably way too loudly if someone/something actually was there, "Did you see it?" Richie asked, still gripping Eddie's hand.

"The red light?" Eddie quizzed in reply.

"Yeah- I... We should stay in here for the rest of the night," Richie looked around the downstairs for a second, "Sleep on a couch or something."

"You... You think it was that bad?" Eddie asked, trying to talk louder than a whisper now that they were by themselves, but his dry throat not really allowing it.

"I don't know what it was that's all. I mean, it could've-" Richie cut himself before finishing, instead letting go of Eddie's hand and making his way to the kitchen, "Drink, yeah?"

"No- I mean, yes, but- it could've what? You think it's bad? Like really bad?" Eddie felt himself start to hyperventilate, which meant he was probably about to have a panic attack of some-sorts.

"It's just, what if it was a camera or something?" Richie asked as he got a glass for Eddie and started filling it with water, before noticing Eddie's sudden panic and discomfort. Eddie's breathing was going up rapidly as he started shivering and shaking more, his mind telling him the worst possible things that could happen, "Hey, hey, hey," Richie tried calming Eddie as he rushed over, setting the glass of water on the breakfast bar. As soon as he was close enough, he reached both his arms out and pulled Eddie to his chest, who was still struggling to breath slightly and near tears at this point.

"R-Richie," Eddie choked out, wrapping his arms around Richie's waist as Richie kept his own arms firmly around Eddie's shoulders and upper back.

"Eds, we're safe in here, okay? We'll stay in here all night and tomorrow and for as long as we need to, okay."

Eddie couldn't even attempt to reply, and instead just burrowed his head into Richie's chest more. His mind was still convincing him that everything was going to go wrong and turn to shit, but Richie being there and hugging him managed to calm him slightly and suggest that maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.

"Eddie?" Richie asked, needing to know Eddie was just slightly okay, the only response he got was Eddie clinging to him even tighter, "Eddie," Richie repeated, "Do you want your drink then? I'll find us something to do, to distract us or something."

"Aren't we just going to sleep?" Eddie asked, lifting his head slightly so he could look at Richie while still hugging him.

"No- you'll just think about everything too much and end up freaking out again."

"I'm kind of hungry," Eddie thought out loud, partially ignoring what Richie had just said.

"I think we have some plain pasta and sauce, I don't want to use the ramen, but I'll make us something if you want?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Eddie replied as he let go of Richie to go get his drink, his blanket still tightly wrapped around him.

Richie followed Eddie to the kitchen, but whereas Eddie simply picked up his glass and took it back to the living room area to sit down, Richie started looking through the cupboards for something to make. Sure enough, there was some pasta and tomato sauce which would be quick and easy to cook in the pan. The others wouldn't mind to much, they'd understand the situation- plus, there was still plenty of ramen left as well.

Richie had just put the pasta in the pan and was trying to open the sauce when he heard Eddie from across the large kitchen/living room, "What are these?" Richie turned to see Eddie holding a large, flat square case that he recognized as a vinyl. He'd seen Mike's Granddad's collection before, while hanging around the house, but he never thought to look through them. The one Eddie was holding was all black except for what looked like a white circular pattern on the front, underneath the pattern in cursive said what looked like 'Oueen', but that didn't make sense, so Richie assumed it was probably 'Queen'- he was pretty sure that was a band or singer or something.

"A record, I think," Richie replied, before turning his attention back to the pasta.

"What does it do?" Eddie asked, and Richie could hear the sound of him sliding the vinyl out the case.

"It plays music- we could put it on if you want? I think the record player is right next to the vinyl shelf."

"I don't know how to," Eddie started, "can you?"

Richie didn't know how to either, but figured he could probably work it out- it couldn't be too difficult. So, he left the pasta on the stove and made his way over to where Eddie was sat on the floor, record in hand, adorably bundled in his blanket. The record player was right next to Eddie, and after a few minutes he was successfully able to set it up, and music began to play through the house.

"Mike won't mind?" Eddie asked, looking up at Richie.

"Don't see why he would, we didn't break anything."

"True."

The pasta didn't take too long to fully cook, only about two songs on the album. Richie wasn't particularity hungry, but served himself up a bowl of the spaghetti anyways before walking them over to where Eddie was sat on a couch, leaning back just listening to the music playing out into the room, "Some spaghetti for my Eddie," Richie cheered as he sat down, before grinning at Eddie as he realized what he had said.

"What?" Eddie asked, plunging his fork into the pasta and taking a bite.

"Spaghetti for Eddie, Eddie Spaghetti," Richie chimed, quite proud with the new nickname.

"That's a horrendous name," Eddie replied, shaking his head in a joking way, "It would be like if I called you Richie... I don't know, what rhymes with Richie?"

"Haha! 'Eddie Spaghetti' cannot be beaten! It is officially your new name," Richie stuck his tongue out as he said it, before taking a bite of his own pasta, which wasn't too bad if he did say so himself.

"You're so annoying," Eddie replied, shaking his head slightly, but the smile on his face said otherwise.

"You love me," Richie teased.

"Never," Eddie disagreed, smile still wide and impossible to hide.

The two boys had just finished eating as the song changed, the album was fairly good so far, not that either boy could compare it to anything, besides maybe the song from the store a few days ago. Richie was carrying the bowels and forks over to the sink as the song started, and something about the song instantly grabbed his attention, for whatever reason.

_Can anybody find me somebody to love?_

Richie didn't know what it was or why he liked it, but the song just made him stop and listen, even after the first line. It just sounded so good, and perfect, and just... Like it was meant to be listened to. It was probably because Richie was never really able to experience music before, but either way something about the song just seemed special.

 _Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little_  
_Can barely stand on my feet_  
_Take a look at yourself, take a look in the mirror and cry_  
_Lord, what you're doing to me_  
_I have spent all my years in believing you_  
_But I just can't get no relief, Lord!_  
_Somebody, ooh somebody_  
_Can anybody find me somebody to love?_

Richie couldn't help but sway a little at the song, it wasn't like the others on the album, sure they were all good- but this one just... It sounded like it meant something, like it was meant to mean something. Richie looked over at Eddie as he made his way back to the couch, who was grinning at him in an amused way, "What?" Richie asked, exaggerating his swaying; twirling his arms around and moving his legs more dramatically- knowing that was what Eddie found so amusing.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, having some fun. Come on," Richie held out a hand, which Eddie denied.

"Richie," Eddie was still smiling, but spoke in a more serious tone.

"What?" Richie asked, still dancing horrendously.

 _I work hard every day of my life_  
_I work 'til I ache in my bones_  
_At the end, at the end of the day_  
_I take home my hard earned pay all on my own_  
_I get down on my knees_  
_And I start to pray_  
_'Til the tears run down from my eyes_  
_Lord, somebody, ooh somebody_  
_Please, can anybody find me somebody to love?_

"Come on Eds, I cook you spaghetti! I save your life! And you won't even dance with me?"

"You didn't save my life," Eddie corrected, "And the spaghetti did come with an awful nickname, so I think they cancel each other out."

"Oh Eddie Spaghetti," Richie dramatically whined, "You are too mean! Too harsh!"

"I don't even know how to dance," Eddie said it quieter, like he was slightly embarrassed- causing Richie to stop and look at him for a moment.

"You think I do?"

"I mean," a pause, "I didn't even know what it was- or what a record, or whatever, was. Or anything, I don't know anything."

"You don't need to know how to dance, just have fun with it," Richie shrugged before holding his hand out again to Eddie, "Plus, you know lots of things Spaghetti, so come on."

 _Everyday I try and I try and I try_  
_But everybody wants to put me down_  
_They say I'm going crazy_  
_They say I got a lot of water in my brain_  
_Ah, got no common sense_  
_I got nobody left to believe in_  
_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

Eddie smiled up at Richie, who had continued his awful dancing, and took his hand. He had no idea what he was meant to do, but Richie looked like he was having fun. As soon as Eddie's hand was in Richie's, he was being pulled to his feet and Richie started spinning the two of them around, Eddie took Richie's other hand in his so the two were just jumping and skipping around in circles with each other, hardly in time to the music at this point. As they danced around more the singing stopped and instead just the instruments filled the room, Richie shook his head around jokingly for a little while before letting go of Eddie's hands to pretend he was playing whatever instrument the person on the record was playing, he held one of his hands at about shoulder level as the other one moved up and down level with his stomach. Eddie didn't know what he was doing, but it was funny and made him smile, so he liked it.

 _Oh, Lord_  
_Ooh somebody, ooh somebody_  
_Can anybody find me somebody to love?_  
_Can anybody find me someone to love?_

As Richie carried on swinging his hair around and pretended to be whoever the person was, Eddie carried on spinning around slightly, turning and jumping slightly in whatever way made sense in the moment. He almost definitely looked ridiculous, but so did Richie, so it was fun. Somehow the two of them gravitated closer and closer together without realizing it, and soon were dancing so close their bodies were basically touching. Eddie hadn't noticed it until Richie started to say something though, "Here, Eddie- Eds..." Richie gulped slightly before pausing for a moment, "We should try this," as he said it he moved his hands to Eddie's waist, confusing Eddie slightly.

"What?" The smaller boy asked, looking at Richie confused.

"I've seen it in movies- I don't think it's the right type of song but... It doesn't matter," he explained, "Here, I keep my hands here, and then yours go over my shoulders and around my neck."

"Why?" Eddie followed Richie's instructions, which meant they were almost hugging again, but he didn't really understand what it meant or what they were meant to do now.

"Then we do this," Richie started turning slightly as he said it, looking between their feet and Eddie's face, his smile still not leaving.

 _Got no feel, I got no rhythm_  
_I just keep losing my beat (you just keep losing and losing)_  
_I'm OK, I'm alright (he's alright, he's alright)_  
_I ain't gonna face no defeat_  
_I just gotta get out of this prison cell_  
_One day, someday, I'm gonna be free, Lord!_

The two carried on clumsily dancing to the song; they were out of time and as Richie said, the dance didn't match the music, but it was fine. They enjoyed it- and even if it wasn't meant to fit it still felt right to Eddie, he had no idea what they were doing or how he was meant to do it, but he didn't think Richie really did either, making the whole thing even messier yet so much more special.

 _Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_

The song suddenly changed, it was slower now- and quieter, and Richie and Eddie reflected that almost immediately. Instead of clumsily spinning around they were almost stood still, only moving slightly and staring at each other in a way neither of them really understood.

 _Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love love love_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_

Eddie broke the eye contact, choosing instead to lean against Richie and push his head into the taller boy's chest in a similar way he had when they first got in the house and hugged, Richie didn't seem to mind this as he just pulled Eddie in closer and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy tighter, resting his own head in Eddie's hair. The two were still just gently swaying to the song, both of them focused only on the lyrics and each other.

 

 

 

_Somebody somebody somebody somebody_  
_Somebody find me_  
_Somebody find me somebody to love_  
_Can anybody find me somebody to love?_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody to love_  
_Find me somebody, somebody, find me somebody to love, somebody, somebody to love_  
_Find me, find me, find me, find me, find me_  
_Ooh, somebody to love, find me somebody to love_  
_Ooh find me somebody to love_  
_Find me, find me, find me somebody to love, find me somebody to love_  
_Anybody, anywhere, anybody find me somebody to love love love!_  
_Somebody find me, find me love._

 

As the song ended the two stayed in the same position; hugging each other while swaying ever so slightly to the song. Once it ended Richie and Eddie stood still for a moment of two, the next song had a quieter opening and a different feel to it, and suddenly managed to change the whole atmosphere as neither of them knew what to do. Richie made the first move, quietly suggesting they turn the music off and try to sleep, Eddie was quick to agree, but still held onto Richie for a few more moments before letting go and sitting back on the couch. The music was easy to turn off, and as soon as Richie had finished both boys were trapped in a silence again.

"I should probably go find a blanket or something," Richie explained, "I left mine in the barn."

"No!" Eddie was quick to disagree, "I- I mean, here, just share mine. I'm still scared, I feel safer with you anyways."

Richie couldn't help but smile as he made his way over to Eddie, who had lifted the blanket slightly so Richie could lay down too. The couch was small, meaning Richie had to lay on top of Eddie slightly; his head on Eddie's chest and his body draped over Eddie with their legs tangled together, Richie's hanging off the couch slightly. After a few minutes of just laying there, the only sound being the soft breathes coming from the two of them, Richie could feel Eddie's hands land on his head and stroke his curls slightly, allowing a sigh to fall from his mouth, "Night Eddie Spaghetti," he whispered.

"G'night Rich," Eddie whispered back through a yawn.

 


	11. I like you a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!  
> I've had a busy week, but I tried to make it longer because it's been a while <3
> 
> Also this is unedited, it's midnight and I have an exam tomorrow, so I don't want to spend another hour editing. However, I'll try to read through it tomorrow. So, I'm sure there's some mistakes and repetition- sorry! It will be fixed tomorrow!

Bill woke up with the sound of faint tapping surrounding him and the barn. At first, he assumed it was just in his head; he was simply in that state of not being fully awake, and his mind was confusing him slightly. He stretched his arms up and yawned a bit, and the sound went away for a few moments, then he rolled over to his side and as he stopped yawning the tapping was back, and very clearly not in his head. It sounded distant, and it wasn't too loud- but it was definitely close, and there wasn't a single reason that Bill could think of for there to be a continuous and steady tapping anywhere near them. He listened to it a bit more- it could be a woodpecker or something, he remembered them from where he used to live, his mother would frequently complain about the noise, he never minded it. This didn't sound like a woodpecker, it was too rhythmic and frequent. It could just be the wind causing tree branches to hit each other, but then again, it was too processed- not natural in the slightest. It wasn't a comfortable sound, like a bird or some trees. Meaning it couldn't be any good. Bill went to look over the others, see if any of them were also awake, maybe one of them had a better idea of what it could be. Or any idea at all, as Bill was pretty much clueless.

Everyone else was asleep; Ben was facing the wall to the left and snoring slightly, and then everyone else was sleeping normally to his right- except Richie and Eddie. Their mattresses sat empty on the floor, no traces of either boy. Bill just stared at the empty beds, mouth slightly open and his mind running a hundred miles a minute. What happened to them? Why were they gone? What the fuck is that noise still doing there? After a few long seconds of what was most likely unnecessary panic, Bill threw himself in Beverly's direction, she was the closest to him in the way he was facing and would probably have a reasonable explanation, "B-B-B-B-Bev-Beverly," he stuttered out, his stutter naturally worse due to the sudden panic, "B-B-Beverly, w-w-w-wake u-up!"

The girl groaned slightly, and Bill could hear a couple of the others start to wake up as well, "What?" she barely whispered as she sat up slightly.

"R-R-Ri-Richie, a-and E-E-Eddie, th-th-they're g-g-g-g-"

As he said it Beverly naturally looked to where they should've been laying, and when it clicked with her that they were missing she finished Bill's sentence for him, "Gone. Where did they go- and... What's that sound?"

"Th-th-that's m-m-my p-point!" Bill started, everyone else now at least partially awake too, "Th-They're gone a-and th-there's s-s-some w-weird n-noise! W-Where- w-w-what-"

"Bill, calm down," Beverly reassured the stuttering boy, cutting him off in the process, "We'll find them."

"Wh-whe-where?" Bill quizzed, in complete disbelief Richie and Eddie would be anywhere easy to find, "We-we should g-g-go, n-now! W-We n-need t-t-to f-find th-them!"

"Find who?" Stanley asked, still laying in bed with his hands over his face as he stretched.

"R-R-Richie a-and E-E-E-Eddie!" Bill shouted, waving his arms in the air frantically.

It wasn't long before everyone was awake, and as everyone woke up more, heard the weird noise and realized that Eddie and Richie genuinely just disappeared the panic started to settle in all of them. Staney was trying to set out some logical reasons; they just woke up early, got hungry and therefore went to get breakfast. Mike was listing every place near the barn they could be, or what they could be doing, Ben and Beverly were trying to calm everyone down while evidently being quite flustered themselves, and Bill could still barely talk through his stutter. It was a mess, and they weren't achieving anything by panicking, but they weren't really thinking about that.

"We could just go look for them? We've been awake like teen minutes and not checked anywhere," Stan pointed out, sounding significantly less panicked than the rest of them.

"What if we can't find them?" Mike asked, "We probably will- but if we can't?"

"We will," Beverly seemed certain of her words, "It's Richie and Eddie, they couldn't have gone that far."

"W-W-What i-if s-s-some-someone t-too-took th-them?" Bill quizzed, stutter slowly getting better.

"Who would've taken them?" Beverly asked, "Everyone- just calm down. We'll find them."

"There is that weird noise," Ben sounded like he wanted to say more, but didn't know what or how, so he didn't.

"We'll worry about that next," Mike said from where he was still sat in bed, Beverly and Bill had gotten up and were pacing around slightly, the other three opted to stay seated.

"Exactly," Stan added, "One thing at a time."

"S-So where d-do w-we l-look f-first?" Bill asked, pacing slightly more aggressively as he worried over his two friends.

"Uhh..." Stan paused for a second, "The house? I mean why would we start anywhere else?"

"Let's g-g-go th-then," Bill said, making his way to the barn door before waiting for the others. They were all pretty quick to catch up.

"Just be quick," Beverly told the four boys, "We don't know what that sound is still."

The five of them bundled through the door and rushed over to the house, due to the panic it took Bill three tries to open the door, and as soon as it was open they all practically fell inside. Stanley was quick to shut the door, and once they all regained their footing and were fully composed, they were easily able to see Richie and Eddie together on the couch. Eddie was laying on his back and facing them- completely asleep, his mouth was hanging open slightly and one of his hands was on Richie's head, fingers intertwined between the taller boy's curls, and the other was at the base of Richie's neck. Richie was laying stomach down against Eddie, both arms clutching around the smaller boy and his face pressed into Eddie's chest. They had one of the blankets around them, and seemed as happy as could be wrapped in each others arms.

"I told you so," Stanley whispered, looking at Bill.

"Should we wake them up?" Beverly asked, "There's still that weird sound, and now that I'm up I want breakfast."

"It's sweet, we can get the cereal and let them sleep some more," Ben suggested.

"That sounds like a good plan, and once they're awake we'll talk about whatever that noise is," Mike agreed.

"W-Why a-are th-they in h-here th-though?" Bill asked, it was an obvious question, that none of the others obviously thought to ask.

"We can ask when they wake up," Mike suggested, "Although it doesn't really make sense."

"I'm sure there's a good reason for it," Ben pointed out.

"Yeah, me too, obviously-" Mike started.

"Why are these here?" Stanley asked from where he made his way into the kitchen, interrupting Mike slightly. He was holding up two bowls, one sitting in the other with two forks in the top one.

"Did we forget to clean them last night?" Beverly asked, making her way to where Stanley was next to the sink, "Oh- they have sauce in them?"

This caught the other's attention slightly, despite it being pretty clear it was most likely Richie and Eddie who were the reasons for there being to bowls on the counter, it still felt necessary to investigate. 

"Richie and Eddie probably just ate something last night," Mike suggested.

"Sp-sp-spag-g-g-ghet-t-t-t-"

"Spaghetti," Ben finished, as he smiled at Bill.

The group were going to carry on talking, but before any of them got the chance to say something a loud groan came from from the couch, and the group could see Richie start to move his head slightly so instead of being pressed into Eddie he was facing the room. He rubbed his eyes slightly and looked like he was about to get up, but instead he just rolled over so he was between Eddie and the back of the couch, back against Eddie and arms bunched in front of him so he was touching the couch. Eddie was either semi-awake too, or just clinging onto Richie tightly, as when Richie rolled over so did Eddie before moving his hand that was once on the back of the taller boy's neck to around his body.

"I hate to say it," Beverly started, "but we should probably wake them up- so we can all eat breakfast together."

"Look at them though," Mike awed at the two boys, "I'd feel so bad."

"W-We still need t-to ask w-why th-they're in h-here," Bill pointed out.

"Let them sleep a bit longer, we can wake them up once we have the cereal out," Ben suggested.

"We all know they'll take about half an hour to actually get up anyway, so when we do it doesn't make a huge difference." Stanley stated.

"Richie's slightly better," Beverly argued slightly.

"You think he's going to be able to get up with Eddie glued to him?" Stan asked.

"Probably wouldn't want to," Beverly shrugged as she made her way over to the cupboard to get the cereal out.

It didn't take long for the group to get the cereal ready, and they had their breakfast as well as Richie and Eddie's froot loops served up within five minutes, "So, who wants to wake them up?" Ben asked, looking over the others.

"I will," Beverly offered as she grabbed the two dry bowls of froot loops. The others watched from the kitchen, all stood around the island- besides Ben who was sat at the breakfast bar, as Beverly walked to the two sleeping boys. She looked over them for a second, not knowing which to wake up first. From the previous few days, it had become obvious that Eddie was the furthest possible from a morning person, however Richie was buried beneath a blanket and Eddie. After a few seconds she placed the two bowls on the coffee table and reached for Richie's shoulder, which was just visible, "Richie, Eddie- we're eating breakfast," she spoke quietly. Richie raised his hands to his face as he let out another small groan, before turning around so his and Eddie's chests were together, Eddie still completely asleep (or pretending to be) with a firm grip around Richie. The taller boy looked up at Beverly, squinting his eyes due to the lack of glasses, before pushing up on one of his elbows and rubbing at his eyes again with his other hand.

"Hmmm?" He half groaned, half asked.

"It's breakfast, come on Eddie- get up," she repeated, shaking Eddie's shoulder slightly.

"Glasses," Richie mumbled, holding his hand up in Beverly's general direction. His glasses were sat on the coffee table, and Beverly was easily able to give them to him. He put his glasses on after rubbing his eyes again, before looking down at Eddie who was now laying underneath where he was propped up on his elbows, "Eddie Spaghetti,"he said in a half asleep voice, but grinning down at Eddie nonetheless. 

Eddie let out what was meant to be a "Go away," but it ended up just sounding like a groan or whine of some sort.

"Eddie come on, we need to talk- you two included," Beverly repeated yet again.

"I don't want to get up," Eddie grumbled, turning his back to Beverly and the others, facing the back of the couch instead.

"Eds, Eddie Spaghetti," Richie started, "You've got to get up, we have Froot Loops."

"Idon'twantfrootloops," Eddie mumbled without any gaps, already falling back asleep.

"You have to move though, so I can sit up, my wonderful spaghetti man."

"D-Don't-" a loud yawn, "C-Call me that, Richie."

"Just get up," Beverly chimed in, "You're lucky we didn't put milk on your cereal."

Finally, Eddie agreed to at least sit up, meaning Richie was able to start eating. The others pretty much stayed in the kitchen, except for Beverly, who chose to just sit on the other couch. It was pretty quiet while they ate, no one really said anything, but it was fine. It was a comfortable and peaceful silence, one that they all felt safe in. They were able to eat their cereal like everything was normal and okay before inevitably having to talk about what was very obviously wrong. Bill was the first to finish, earning a slight glare from Stanley as he slurped his milk a bit too loudly, leaving himself with a line of milk above his lip that he didn't seem to notice was there until he had finished washing up his bowl and spoon, wiping his face as he sat back down, "S-S-So, why w-were you in-inside?" he asked, looking to Eddie and Richie on the couch.

"I needed a drink," Eddie started to explain, "but there was this sound- it was like a tapping, or clicking... Tapping- it was a tapping. Anyway, I got Richie because I didn't trust it, and then on our way to get me a drink there was this light. It was small and red- I don't know what it was, but we figured staying in here would be safer."

"If I had to guess I'd say it was probably a camera, I have no idea about the tapping though," Richie added.

"We heard the weird noise," Mike said, just finishing his cereal, "And then you two were gone- we thought something happened to you guys."

"Oh, sorry. You're not mad we slept in here are you?" Eddie asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"No- it's fine. It's just we were worried. And the whole sleeping thing is just because I don't want my granddad walking in with people here, thankfully he didn't last night."

"Do you think he will at all?" Ben asked.

"Probably, he obviously hasn't moved as all his stuff is still here, I just have no clue how long it will be," Mike explained.

"I can't imagine him being happy with the noise and weird light on his farm," Stanley pointed out, "Or with six strangers in his house."

"Seven," Mike corrected.

"You're his grandson, not a stranger," Stan pointed out as he got up to wash his bowl.

"Oh yeah. But about the weird sound- what are we going to do about it? And the light?" Mike asked.

"Can we do anything?" Ben asked, "When I looked a few days ago there wasn't anything, so I don't know what it could be?"

"Probably people from the lab- Good ol' Dr. D." Richie said, shoving the last of his dry Froot Loops in his mouth.

"How can you even slightly joke about him?" Eddie looked at Richie in slight shock. Dr. Dennis was easily one of the worst people Eddie had ever met, sure, he was one of the  _only_  people Eddie knew at all- but that didn't make him any better. Eddie couldn't even begin to imagine joking about him, he can't even think about the man without remembering everything he used to do to Eddie- and probably to the others too.

"Trying to keep happy Spaghetti," Richie grinned at Eddie, some Froot Loop mush still in his teeth.

"Stop smiling, that's disgusting," Eddie bluntly said before looking back down to his still almost full bowl, "We could look again though," he quickly added.

"What if it is the guards?" Ben asked, "I mean, it probably is- so we can't just go searching around."

"Y-Y-You said th-there w-was a c-cl-clearing, r-right?" Bill asked, looking at Ben, "Th-They're probably th-there. W-We could l-look, i-if w-we stay i-in th-the t-t-trees."

"Are you insane?" Stanley asked.

"We can't hide forever- and we wouldn't all go," Beverly answered for Bill.

"E-E-Exactly, o-only like th-three of us. W-We n-need m-more f-foo-food t-to. Some of u-us c-could d-do th-that?"

"So three of us walk into a definite death trap, and the rest into another potential death trap?" Mike asked, now also finished with breakfast.

"Yes," Beverly answered, "Who's wants to do what?"

"I-I-I'll look b-behind th-the b-barn," Bill naturally offered.

"Me too," Mike said, "I know the place pretty well, so I should probably come."

"You sure?" Stanley asked, not really wanting Mike going- who knows what was actually there.

"Yeah, we'll be fine, I'm sure. We ran away from them once- and have our powers."

"T-T-True," Bill agreed.

There was a moment of silence or so before Eddie spoke up, surprising everyone, "I'll go," he said. He wasn't fully sure why he offered, and he knew deep down he didn't want to go. But he also knew that at one point or another he'd have to, whether it was today with Mike and Bill, tomorrow with Beverly or in a week with all of them. They couldn't just run away and forever be safe. Ultimately, he'd have to face them sometime- so he may as well do it now, "Yeah- I'll go with you guys."

Richie looked at Eddie in a way Eddie couldn't fully read, but Richie was beyond proud of Eddie in a weird way, but also suddenly very scared, "Are you sure? You actually want to?" Richie asked, his face looked sad at the idea but his eyes seemed happy for Eddie.

"Yeah," Eddie turned to Bill, "I can come, right?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" Mike asked, "Of course you can."

"So- Ben, Stan, Richie and I are going shopping?" Beverly asked, looking over the three boys to make sure they didn't mind.

"Yeah that sounds good," Richie agreed, "As long as Eddie Spaghetti can survive without me!"

"I'm sure I'll do fine, and stop calling me Eddie Spaghetti."

"Why are you calling him that?" Stanley sounded as confused as the others all felt.

"Because he's my Eddie Spaghetti," Richie answered with a shrug.

The group carried on discussing the plan for the day as Eddie, Richie and Ben all finished their breakfast. It was decided that although Ben, Beverly, Stanley and Richie were all going shopping, they'd stay in pairs. That way if guards were for whatever reason in Derry, they could hide and blend in easier. A group of four is a lot harder to hide than a pair of people. It was also decided that Stanley and Richie would be in charge of getting more food; ramen, spaghetti, sauces and the other stuff they'd almost ran out of, and Ben and Beverly would see if they could find anything else they might need: more soap, any clothes, something to do. They would almost definitely come back with less than Stanley and Richie, but the group needed more than just food.

"I'm going to shower before we all set out," Beverly said just as Ben and Eddie were finishing up breakfast, "I feel like I should, going out into public and all."

"We probably all should," Ben added, "It's been a couple of days."

"And means we can leave later, which honestly isn't a bad thing," Mike laughed.

"So, we're all showering?" Stanley asked.

"Yeah, may as well, who else wants to go first?"

"I will?" Eddie said as more of a question, "If no one else wants to go first?"

"I-I-I d-d-don't mind," Bill replied.

Richie didn't hear the rest of the short conversation, he had pretty much frozen where he was sat. The last shower/bath he had ended up being okay, but that was only because Eddie was with him. Would Eddie want to do that again? Put up with Richie's pointless worrying? It was surprising Eddie was so willing the first time, no one else ever had been, it always seemed like the more Richie screamed and protested it the more fun the people would find making him suffer. Not Eddie though, Eddie had held his hand and calmed him down, he didn't even care that everything bad in Eddie's life was his fault. Eddie just helped him, no matter what, for absolutely nothing. Richie quite liked Eddie, he liked him a lot. His Eds, Eddie Spaghetti, Firecracker. Eddie was just everything someone should be, and Richie didn't know if he could go near a shower without his Spaghetti.

"Richie, I need to ask you something, come here," Eddie said as he stood up.

Richie followed, extremely confused on what had happened and been said as he had somehow managed to doze off for all of it, "What?" he asked Eddie, very lost on the whole situation.

"Just come with me, I need to talk to you," Eddie lead Richie up the stairs and away from the others, then once at the top made his way to the towel cupboard and started to get some towels out.

"What is it Spaghetti?" Richie asked, as he said it Eddie threw him a towel.

"What?"

"You needed to ask me something?"

"Oh, no- sorry. I just needed a reason for you to come with me, I figured you wouldn't want to do this by yourself, after last time, you know? Basically, do you want me to... Like-"

"Yes," Richie cut in, he really did want Eddie to.

The two of them made their way into the bathroom and Richie, despite knowing he was completely safe with Eddie, he still felt his stomach drop at the sight of the bath. He could feel his hands start to shake slightly as he was frozen looking at it and Eddie. The memories of the rough handcuffs and chains dragging him down, how tight his chest became, how it felt like he was burning inside out. How it could last for hours; being in the water for a torturous amount of time and only being given a few moments to catch his breath. How somehow his one strength was turned into his biggest weakness and used against the one person he now cares the most about. How all those tests proved was that Richie wasn't strong in the slightest, unless it was Eddie who he was hurting.

"I can't do it Eds, I really can't. It's- just looking at it," Richie said it insanely quietly, eyes now fluttering between the bath and Eddie.

"Yes you can," Eddie soothed, "I promise- okay. You can do it."

"E-Eddie..." Richie could feel himself shaking more and he didn't even know why we was getting so worked up after not that long. He  _knew_  he was safe, he  _knew_  Eddie wouldn't hurt him and he  _knew_ nothing would hurt him. But it seemed like no matter how much he told himself he'd be okay, the less he believed it.

Eddie made his way over to start filling the bath, once he had set it up, and saw Richie was still stood in the same spot looking near broken he rushed over to him, "Richie, do you not want to? I won't make you, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine, I really need to," Richie let out a small chuckle, "It's just, y'know, difficult."

Richie and Eddie sat and waited for the bath to fill up in silence, neither knew what to say or how to start a conversation at all. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for the bathtub to fill up enough. Unfortunately, it meant Richie would probably have another panic attack in front of Eddie, which wasn't great for either of them. Unlike last time, Richie wasn't shaking as much before hand, as he didn't have to sit in the bathroom by himself for an hour getting worked up, so he was actually able to unbutton his shirt without Eddie's help, and then his pants came off easily too.

"You sure?" Eddie asked again, "I know you can, but you don't have to."

Richie gulped a little as he looked at the water. It really shouldn't be scary, they were being hunted by a countless number of violent guards, yet Richie was getting more nervous about this than he'd ever been about the guards. He lifted one of his feet hesitantly and started to put it into the bath, but as soon as it made contact with the water he started to freak out again. He pulled his leg back as suddenly all he could feel were the chains pulling him down into burning darkness with no way out and-

"Rich, Richie, it's okay," as Eddie spoke Richie realized he had managed to grab onto Eddie as he flinched back without even realizing it, "Here I have an idea."

Richie let go of Eddie and stood back for a second, waiting for Eddie to say something, but instead Eddie started to take his own shirt off, and then his pants, "Eds, what are you doing?"

"Just, this might be easier, okay?" Eddie climbed in the bath with ease, and once sat down held his hand out to Richie. Richie took it and tried getting in the bath again, he did the same thing as before- lifted his one leg before slowly lowering his foot into the warm water. He still flinched slightly as his foot first touched the water, but Eddie squeezed his hand as he started to push his foot to the base of the bath- reminding him that he was fine, he was safe, and he wasn't in the lab. He stood for a second, one foot in the bath and the other out, then started to move the other foot in too. Eddie kept a firm grip on his hand the whole time and it felt like within seconds Richie was completely standing in the water.

"See? It's fine," Eddie carried on reassuring.

"Yeah," Richie agreed as he started to sit down, which was somehow even worse than stepping into the bath. Eventually, however, he manged to completely sit down, facing Eddie.

"You okay?" Eddie asked, smiling at Richie. Richie nodded before smiling at Eddie, who then just grinned even more back, "Turn around and I'll wash your hair, the soaps are right next to me so I may as well."

"You don't mind?" Richie asked, "I can do it myself, you really don't have to."

"I want to, please?" Richie had no idea why Eddie was so keen to help him, he knew he wouldn't be. It was probably so annoying for Eddie, having to put up with it, Richie crying over having to wash and go near water. Although if it was Eddie, Richie would do anything he could to help him, so maybe it was like that but for Eddie. Once he had awkwardly turned around, probably splashing some of the water on the floor with his lanky legs, he scooted back slightly so Eddie could reach him, and then tilted his head back slightly so Eddie could properly reach his hair. After a few seconds he felt water shooting onto his head, from where Eddie had turned the shower on, and Eddie's free hand start to run through his hair, getting it wet. He'd be lying if he said it didn't feel good, and started to lean into the touch out of instinct, as he lent back it meant more water was rushing over his face-

 

_-_

_It was dark out and it had been raining for what felt like years. Richie had no idea where he was or where he was going, all he knew was that he couldn't go home. He had to leave home, after his mom disappeared. His dad had told him they'd be okay, and that it would work itself out. Richie's mom, Maggie Tozier, was just in a better place now. She was with Grandma in a nice new house in the sky, and one day Richie would see her again. It wouldn't be for a long time, and Richie couldn't understand why, but he knew his dad wouldn't lie. Then he figures his dad must have also moved, because soon enough he was gone too. Richie couldn't work out why they had left him or why they needed to go to the better place- but he understood he couldn't go there._

_His dad had disappeared a few days after they left. They were moving to a better place too- not the same one as his mom, but their own one. Without Maggie they couldn't keep the house, it wasn't safe. Wentworth never told Richie why, but Richie understood it was dangerous. His dad never told him it was a bad thing, but one night Richie heard his dad cry- which didn't make any sense because Richie had no clue that his dad could cry, it had never happened before. But he was crying quietly and said something about 'them taking her'. It was probably the people who took his mom to her new house, it wasn't a house you could just move to- someone had to come get you. Richie's dad was probably upset because they didn't take him too. Richie wished he got to go, he missed his mom and his grandma. His dad did eventually get to go though, because he just disappeared out of nowhere one morning. Richie laughed at first, expecting his dad to jump out from somewhere like he sometimes did, and tag Richie or something. Then they'd run around before eating breakfast._

_When Richie realized his dad had left he didn't know what to do; he knew they'd been going to their own place, but he didn't know where it was, or if he'd be allowed there by himself. He probably wouldn't- because he wasn't a grown-up. His dad always told him that when he was grown-up he'd understand more, Richie had no clue how someone knew when they were a grown-up, but he wasn't one. He was too short to be a grown-up, and he didn't have any front teeth. All grown-ups have front teeth and can reach the candy jars, it's one of the prizes of being a grown-up. His mom always shared her prizes though, but Richie had to keep it a secret from his dad, because the jar was the grown-up jar._

_Richie missed his mom and dad, and he didn't know how he was meant to find them or what he was meant to do. It had been raining since his dad left, and Richie just stayed at their 'temporary campsite' since his dad left. He figured if he waited long enough his dad would come back, with his mom- and maybe grandma too, his dad was just getting them so they could all be together again. But then it felt like maybe they wouldn't come back, Richie didn't leave the tent once, he didn't want to miss them. He didn't want to annoy them either, if they came back and he wasn't there they wouldn't be happy with him; when he got separated from them in the store he was always told to just wait where he was, they would find him._

_They didn't find him though, instead Dr. Dennis did, he was nice to Richie. He sat in the tent with him and listened to Richie's sobs about how his parents left, and Richie didn't know where they were. Dr. Dennis said they might have left him, but Richie didn't believe that, because they wouldn't do that to him. They wouldn't ever leave him. Dr. Dennis said it happened a lot, parents would get bored and move on with a new life, "Like to a new house? In a better place?" Richie had asked, and Dr. Dennis told him that pretty much summed it up. Then the man told Richie that he had a nice place where other children like him lived, where Richie could be warm and eat and make friends- and Dr. Dennis would be able to try to find his parents._

_Dr. Dennis was always nice to Richie, he never found his parents, but Richie always knew he was trying._

_-_

 

 

"Richie, move- wait- did you fall asleep?"

"Hmm?" Richie grumbled as he pushed himself off Eddie and spun around to face him again, "Don't think so."

"You look like you did," Eddie pointed out, "We're done now though, we can get out."

"Eds," Richie was sitting insanely close to Eddie, which was to be expected as they were both in a bathtub, but it still felt weird- in a good way. Richie hadn't been this close to Eddie before, besides maybe earlier that morning, which didn't count because that was because they fell asleep together. 

"Yeah?" Eddie asked.

"Thanks, for everything," after Richie said it he leaned in closer to Eddie, until his lips were impossibly close to the boy, before then planting a kiss on Eddie's cheek.

As he pulled back Eddie wore a face of confusion, and he hesitantly pulled his hand up to where Richie had kissed, "What?... What does that mean?"

"It's a thanks, like 'Thanks, I like you a lot'"

"Oh," Eddie paused for a second, before leaning in himself and repeating what Richie had just done, placing a soft kiss on Richie's cheek, "Thanks, I like you a lot."


End file.
